Naturally Juggling Career and Personal Life: Find Out How

I think it's really important, I think it's essential, and I think it's fluid. I don't think that at any one time you can put a number of hours on a work-life balance, or think about it in terms of a very descriptive way of operating.

If you're in a situation where you're feeling really enthused by work, then a work-life balance might be that your personal life is accepting that you're excited about work and you want to give that your all. And then vice versa: if work is a little bit quieter, and there's something going on in your personal life that needs your attention, you are able to give that the time.

Being able to manage the ambitions that I have in my professional life, whilst also feeling like my family life is going really well, this fuels a feeling of resilience, of being able to manage anything that throws itself in your way.

Probably the biggest challenge is managing being a single parent whilst also being really ambitious during my PhD, while my children were young. I would have to have a job as a lecturer, and then I was a researcher, and I was a parent, so I had to manage those roles effectively.

I didn't always get it right, but it was definitely about having different hats on for each of the situations that I was in. One of the things that I found quite difficult is, due to technology, we have lots of different ways in which people can communicate with you. I've had to be strict about keeping email off my phone so that when I'm out with my family, I'm not looking at my emails.

A major misconception on my part is that it means doing less professionally, and that you don't do as much, and that you give up certain things. It requires you to do better at the things that you do, being really strategic about the things that you choose to participate in, learning how to say no, delegate, get other people involved.

I think it's a misconception that work-life balance is a static state of nine till five. I think it's dynamic. Be consciously aware of the impact that it's having, understand and continually check in with yourself about whether it's worth what you're actually doing.

I'm simply a calendar and a to-do list person. I will put dates if there are deadlines, and then I insert the number of hours into the calendar. I try and order them in terms of priority. If something is a bit more of a slow burner, like a project for example, then I'll put time into the calendar regularly.

I identify the three to five biggest priorities that are on my to-do list and then I schedule those first. I also make sure that I build in time where I'm not doing anything. It gives me a bit of time then if anything goes wrong, so I don't feel overwhelmed and exhausted by the end of the day.

I've recognized that professionally, there's never going to be a point where everything's finished. But now, for the most part, I'm just relaxed and chilled about work, because I know it'll get done. I've put things into the calendar, and that stops me from having that kind of mental noise of trying to manage it all in my head.

I try and model it as much as possible, and I'm very clear then about where my boundaries are. I don't mind telling people I'm not happy for you to contact me if I'm on holiday, I won't be answering emails.

I do also talk about the value of working flexibly. I'm very lucky to have a hybrid role. Also checking in with colleagues and students just to see how they are, and to talk about personal life as well, so people know that I'm not just all about work. Workload is really important — you're going to be able to do quality rather than quantity.

Communication is key. I articulate it clearly to people, and I make sure I ask permission. I don't have email on my phone. I physically put my laptop away, I pack it into my bag, and I put my bag away so I can't see it anymore. It's about those kinds of rituals where you signify the end of a working day.

An example might be I used to go for a walk straight after work. Or I would physically go into the kitchen and make sure I had dinner in the kitchen rather than in the living room, where I usually work from, to signify to myself, right, you're out of that now.

I've got a very full life outside of work. I do a lot. I love that. I'm the type of person that likes to do as much as possible, but I also really value doing nothing — time at home where you could just sit on the sofa and watch TV or go on your phone and do things that are not really there for a goal.

I also have a shared calendar that helps me to figure out what we're doing over the next year or so. It's more about protecting those times where we have connections with our family and friends. And it helps with the motivation side of things — knowing I've got something exciting coming up outside of work.

I think physical health is key to success. I do believe that movement and being active can take many different forms. An example would be I dance regularly. When I dance, I still burn as many calories, and you might not have even realized that you did any exercise. While dancing, we're also social with other people, and it's a night out. It's another set of friends.

Sleep is absolutely key to me. If I don't sleep well, or my routine of sleep is put out, then it really does impact my physical and mental well-being and my productivity at work. Self-care is important too — making sure you shower regularly and look after your physical health by making sure you go to your checkups.

I like personal connections, but I do need that time and space to recharge my batteries. Also, when I'm travelling back and forth to work, that's really good time for me while I'm on my own. The gym and walking my dogs — those are probably the two other things where I'm actually solo and spending time with my own inner thoughts.

It's about knowing that we are okay to spend time alone, and that it is okay not to feel guilty about it. We need to just go away and have time on our own and be away from people and conversing.

You regularly need to review it. When I was younger, my children were young. I couldn't work full-time. The only way I could do that was to have two or three part-time jobs while I was doing my PhD. It seems like having two or three jobs and doing a PhD would have been really tough, but actually it gave me that flexibility to be there for my children when I needed to be.

It's about knowing what requirements are there and understanding all the different moving parts in your life at that particular time. And you can change it and think, actually, this is terrible — be comfortable enough to admit it was maybe the wrong choice, and do something else, a bit of trial and error until it works.

Being driven, committed and ambitious is part of who I am. I've found that using the calendar approach and being strict with myself helped me — because sometimes, you can let imposter syndrome get in the way, or maybe you can let your confidence or your fear of things get in the way of doing things.

I also found that the starting of the activity for me is the bit that is the tough bit to do. When I'm doing it, usually I'm all right, because I get into the flow. I have a self-coaching talk and think about how important it will be if I get this done, remembering past success. The scheduling of activities and then being stricter with myself to do them — that's probably my success story.

To me, it's about honesty, and understanding where the parts of your life are currently very draining and where you're getting joy. We get into a habit of saying, I have to do this, I must do that, instead of thinking about what you want to do. Recognizing that you do have a choice. You do get to choose what you do.

And also, I would say protecting your well-being — making sure that you have clear boundaries in place, that you understand the difference between work and personal life, that you spend time away from work to recharge. Small pockets of time where you get to do something for you is key.

I think it's the attitude that a sustainable way of working and balance is not a luxury. It's a leadership responsibility to make sure that your team has a work-life balance. Nurturing a sustainable work environment — that you model a work-life balance with the people that you work with — means that you show that you care about them.

None of us can work at 100% all the time. So, giving that degree of flexibility for life balance is key and not trying to squeeze as much as possible out of someone. Recognizing that if you put them in an area where their strengths are, then they're going to flourish.