Advertising, Associate Advice, Biglaw, Career Center, Shameless Plugs, This Is an Ad

Career Center Tip of the Day: Making Work-Life Work (Part 2)

By  
on

In the first part of our Career Center “Tip of the Day” series, focused on helping you to achieve a work-life balance in your daily schedule, we provided tips aimed at managing your work to help free up time for your personal life. Today, we feature tips aimed at helping you maintain your personal life. Striking the right balance between your personal life, professional life and social life is essential to leading a successful and comfortable life.

On to the tips for maintaining your personal life…

1. Protect the important times of your day and the important events in your life. Take stock of what time of the day matters most to you, and then be committed to putting down your work and turning off your BlackBerry every day at that time. For example, maybe you need to go to bed at a decent hour in order to properly function the next day. Or if you’re a parent, it could be spending an uninterrupted hour with your children before they go to bed.

Whatever you choose, set boundaries that are reasonable and predictable, and communicate them to your team. Additionally, you will want to demonstrate that outside of your protected time, you are working hard and efficiently. In doing so, your team will likely be understanding and respectful of the times you designate as off limits.

Similarly, pick and choose the significant life events that are worth taking time off of work. Give the attorneys you work for as much advance notice as possible, and remind them again before you leave. If you know you won’t be able to complete your projects beforehand, make sure you arrange for someone to handle them in your absence. Finally, while you’re away from work, resist the urge to check your BlackBerry.

If work simply doesn’t permit you to be available for an important event, try to be flexible. For example, if a case requires you to be across the country for two weeks during your anniversary, see if you can fly your spouse out to where you are for the weekend so that you can spend some time together.

Sponsored

2. Work remotely as much as your partner allows. That way, you can increase your time with your family, or just get some much-needed time away from the office. You don’t need to be put on an official flex-time work arrangement, or work at a firm where face time isn’t mandatory, to be able to work remotely. The determining factor is the preference of the partner you work for. Some partners are barely in the office themselves and/or prefer to communicate via email or phone, in which case leaving the office at 6 p.m. on some days or even working from home occasionally shouldn’t be a problem. But if your partner is notorious for dropping by your office unannounced, then be sure to clear your plans to work remotely ahead of time with your partner. Just make sure you that when you say you are working remotely that you really are working and being responsive to phone calls and emails. Be careful not to use “working remotely” as a smokescreen for taking time off.

3. Use your technology to stay connected with family and friends. With all the different ways to video chat these days, your loved ones can feel like they’re around even when they aren’t. So splurge on the latest technology if you frequently travel for work or work late at the office.

These tips are brought to you by the experienced recruiters at Lateral Link. If you have questions about seeking new employment opportunities, or would like a professional recruiter to assist you in your job search, contact any of the recruiting professionals at Lateral Link.

Be sure to check out other articles and the firm profiles on the Career Center website for additional resources to help you with your job searches and career.

Earlier: Career Center Tip of the Day: Making Work-Life Work (Part 1)

Sponsored

Topics

, , , , , , , ,