Ornaith Giblin outlines the essential steps to achieving a healthy work-life balance for high-level executives striving to manage heavy schedules and competing priorities
A high-powered executive who runs a multi-million euro business, also sits on the boards of several not-for-profits, is raising two kids and has just run a second marathon.
How do they do it?
How is it possible to lead a business, contribute pro-bono time and have a work-life balance that prioritises family and fitness?
This “art” of time management and efficiency doesn’t come easy. We have all developed, read about, adopted and rejected various methods—some successful and some not—to try to boost our productivity.
However, people often still find themselves frustratingly short of time.
What is absolutely clear is that the people who rise to the top usually have the art of time management nailed—often to a level that puts the rest of us to shame.
So, what principles do they employ that we could all learn from?
Learn to let go and delegate
If you are a new manager, you will understand first-hand the battle here. You hold on to the tendency to “do” because you’re the best one to do the job, and taking the time to train someone else doesn’t seem any more time efficient.
Even for senior managers, this is an issue. You might have strengths that place you as the best project manager, process improver, statutory reporter or deep-dive analyser, but if you did all of this all the time, you would have no time for team leadership, strategy or driving commercial objectives.
Approach this situation from another viewpoint: what do you do that no one else is qualified to do?
You were hired to take care of the higher-level aspects of your job and this must be prioritised.
Business-as-usual can be delegated. Not only will it boost your team, but you might be pleasantly surprised by what others can do when asked to step up to the challenge.
Make a plan and then a contingency plan
I write the next day’s plan the evening before. This practice helps me assess my progress and gain insights into my productivity patterns over time.
I remove what I’ve completed from my earlier plan, reschedule unfinished tasks for the next day and note a few new priorities requiring attention.
Even more critical, however, is the need for a contingency plan to help manage the unknown.
It is crucial to set aside a “free” hour each day to manage unforeseen issues. If you find you don’t need this hour, use it to speed up the delivery of other outlined priorities.
Focus on results rather than hours
People focus on the time it will take to complete a task. Task completion will invariably expand to fill the allocated time.
In accounting, you are even more susceptible to this mindset, even if you work in industry, due to the industry-accepted practice of “billable hours”.
Instead of analysing a task in terms of how long you anticipate it will take, allocate the time to the task in a way that aligns with the value of the end result.
Your success will not be measured by how long you work, but rather what results you deliver.
Set your hours and create distance
At first glance, it may seem arbitrary to set working hours for the sake of having a work-life balance. If you have nothing planned, why not work into the evening and get a few more things done?
Because working all the hours you have available will dull your shine.
Frequently, ambitious people work more because they’re always “on”, driven by the buzz, and feel that the more work they get done, the better.
However, taking the time for yourself means you can show up the next day fresh and full of ideas.
Whether it’s setting hours so you can get out and exercise, spend time with your family, or just kick your feet up, distance is essential for idea generation, innovation and creativity in your work.
Ornaith Giblin is a consultant at Barden
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