Peter G McDermott

How Do You Balance Your Life With Work?

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Peter G McDermott

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Lifehacker posted an article this morning called “How to Convince Your Boss to Let You Try a Four Day Work Week.” Is that enough time to get all of your work done, maintain all of your client relationships and move forward with all of those projects on the back burner?

A lot has been made about the productivity benefits of the four day workweek—either in the form of a 32 hour week, or a 40 hour week. That’s all well and good, but convincing your boss to let you change your schedule completely is tough. Here’s one way to approach your boss and convince them to give the four day week a chance.

Or do you need more like six days to get it all done?

Now that we live in a mobile world, connected through our smartphones, tablets and VPN’s, we have access to our systems and files at the snap of a finger. We live in a service-oriented economy where customers expect you to pick up the phone at any time of day. Are you letting them?

Drawing boundaries to your personal life and your work life is an essential part of a successful work-life balance. What are you doing to draw the line in the sand? How many days a week do your work? Could you get away with 3 days off every week?

Comments

2 responses to “How Do You Balance Your Life With Work?”

  1. Stephanie Avatar
    Stephanie

    I work a 35 hour week and am fortunate enough to work for a company that understands that happy employees are more productive. There’s time for my family and clear boundaries on when responses are expected. I specifically searched for this type of balance when I was looking for a job and was willing to make less money to maintain that balance. I’m a single mom and my sons need my time and attention. It worked out smashingly and I didn’t actually need to take a pay cut to balance it all. As a result though, I’m very dedicated to maintaining high performance at my job. They know I’m serious about my work and I know they’re serious about my life balance.

    Reply
  2. Sarai Pahla Avatar
    Sarai Pahla

    Well, before I went freelance (as a medical translator), I worked for Accenture doing database design and network security – I think if you’re part of a team, then the whole team has to participate in deciding hours together, otherwise it simply won’t work. That’s the bigger challenge in corporate. If you work as an individual, by all means give it a try – if it works for you.
    Working freelance, however, I work a few hours every day of the week – I’ll be hitting the 2 year mark in a few months time, but I don’t think I’ll be able to slow down until I have more translation credentials and reach direct clients.

    Reply

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