5 Actionable hacks for better work-life balance
Jeraldine Phneah
July 09, 2023
Welcome to Grow with Jeraldine Phneah.
I create content for growth-minded individuals on accelerating our growth while staying balanced.
1. 5 Actionable hacks for better work-life balance and focus
This Reddit post hit me hard.
— Sahil Bloom (@SahilBloom)
May 17, 2023
This Reddit post has been circulating on the internet.
I have seen so many people lose themselves in their jobs, at the expense of time with the people they love.
How can we get more time? The best way is to manage it well.
Here are 5 Actionable Steps that have been a game changer for me.
⏰ Time Blocking: Rather than have a To Do list, I schedule things in my calendar instead. Learn how you can do time-blocking here.
⏰ Frontload my week. I usually pack the most appointments on Monday and Tuesday. Those are also my preferred days to go to the office.
⏰ Group related tasks together such as internal meetings together to avoid context switching.
⏰ Eliminate all notifications from your phone: I am in a customer-facing role. However, I don’t have Slack or Teams installed on my phone. I also do not have WhatsApp notifications. You don’t have to be always on to do well. Learn how to switch off notifications here.
⏰ Learn to say no: Focus on high-impact activities that truly add value to the business. In my case, I tend to focus 99% on revenue-generating activities and tasks that contribute to company building.
2. Podcast Summary: The Science of Happiness
I recently listened to a conversation between Arthur C. Brooks, William Henry Bloomberg Professor of the Practice of Public Leadership at Harvard Kennedy School, and Peter Attia.
Here are three key highlights:
The people who suffer the most from empty nest syndrome is that they do not like their partner very much. Therefore, the goal of marriage is not passion but friendship. You should be best friends with your partner; have things in common with one another and be able to talk about deeper things.
These are people who know your secrets and will take your 2 AM phone call to help you and that you talk to a lot. If you ask men to name two close friends who fit these criteria, they might sometimes struggle.
Unhappy people will tend to focus on “me” like my job, my money, my car. However, it is key to zoom out and find peace and perspective. Life is bigger than ourselves
3. Your environment matters
“The average person who puts themselves in a great position beats the genius who find themselves in a poor position”
At the start of this year, I was thinking about how to set myself up for success in my 30s.
One of the key things I decided was that I should join a high-growth company
In a high-growth company, your career; learning, and skills rise together with the organization.
In a slow growth or declining one, you are bailing water out of a sinking boat or carrying the company and its weak leaders. Not the most efficient use of your time and effort if you are an ambitious person.
Two equally talented young people can have vastly different outcomes in three years if one joins a high-growth company and another joins a stagnant one.
The ongoing tech winter has helped us to identify easily where sustainable growth is.
Want leverage for your efforts and time at work? Place your bets and your future in the right place.
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