Work-life balance & lessons learned

I've written on several occasions about work ethic and varying approaches to manage work responsibilities so that they're natural and effective, with good ROI.  The "natural" part speaks to work-life balance, as well as effectiveness in general. 

For industries and positions that allow it, how do we complete our tasks, initiatives and creative work while also keeping to our bigger, overarching priorities in our lives?  Sometimes it's a flex time schedule, it's working smarter and collaborating with a team, often it's utilizing pto (rather than letting it stack up), sometimes it's saying No, and other times the answer is Yes.

Looking back, I've often worked too much, had my Yes's and No's flipped, and - in my noble efforts to build a future - neglected my personal present.

In most of those periods, I had significant, positive impact in my work -  for the organization, the team and those we serve.  And when I'm gone from that role, it's good to be missed - both from a personal perspective to be needed, as well as the message in the poem, Afterglow, to have a positive impact.

Photo of me after the Seniority Leadership Summit awards ceremony in Portland, September 2013 - delighted to have received the 100% Occupancy Top Honor and Special Achievement awards.

And after those periods of significant positive impact, I have had the opportunity to see the proof in constructive work relationships, stronger business figures, grown team members, happy clients and, sometimes, beautiful friendships. And always, lessons learned. 

Each time, with each new chapter in my career, I have more wisdom - how to collaborate and impact for the better, how to keep a focus on the present while building a future.  It is a journey indeed.

Photo from my high school senior yearbook, a message from my parents with a photo of me as a pup wearing my favorite tshirt, I'm a Human Bean.

Except from "Afterglow," by Helen Lowrie Marshall:

I'd like the memory of me
To be a happy one.
I'd like to leave an afterglow
Of smiles when day is done.
I'd like to leave an echo
Whispering softly down the ways,
Of happy times, and laughing times
And bright and sunny days.