Hi, this is Katie, the Project Manager.
I decided to balance my personal and career life a bit better.
What led me to this decision?
Always busy
“Yes, dinner tomorrow!” I promised Ted happily when we were on the phone. “But I need to go because my boss is on the other line!”
“Oh, Katie, always so busy!” Ted replied, but he sounded happy, even though we haven’t spent time together for a while.
He had a different tone the next evening when I called to tell him I needed to stay at work longer.
“Sometimes I really wonder what is more important to you,” he sighed and hung up.
And I had to ask myself: What is actually important to me?
The important things
I thought about it and the result was: the most important things are my health and my loved ones, my relationship, and my career. And if I want to be healthy, successful at work, and maintain a happy relationship, I need to set some boundaries.
I googled a bit and put together a few points:
- List the roles you have. Each of them has its own needs!
- Learn to say no. You can’t just take on more and more tasks without sacrificing other things.
- Focus only on personal life after work. No e-mails or calls!
- Recognize your distractions and minimize them.
The last two are the most challenging for me. What helps me is that I don’t need to save any business contacts to my phone at all. eWay recognizes the callers for me and my iPhone contact list is strictly private.
As for social media, I have decided to download one of those apps that block your social media for a certain amount of time. Private stuff can wait for the lunch break or after work!
After work, I focus on my personal life!
The next day, when I was just about to leave the office, my colleague Robert came to discuss a matter with me.
“Do you have like one hour? I would like to hear your opinion on something.”
Normally, I would have sat down with Robert without hesitation.
Not this time, though.
“I appreciate that, Robert,” I smiled. “Please come to my office in the morning. I’m having dinner with my boyfriend tonight.”
