Work-life balance management tips

A work-life balance is attainable - you just have to get your priorities straight and set clear guidelines to make it happen, advises careers expert Lama Ataya.

If you’re working and raising a family in the UAE, chances are conversation about work-life balance has come up more than once. There is a lot of pressure to find the time and resources to have a happy and fulfilling life in a country as lively and fast-paced as the UAE.

So is it possible to have it all and do it all? Can you achieve happiness in your life with all of the demands pulling at you in different directions? In other words, can you really balance work, home and social commitments if you’re living and working in the UAE?

The truth is the notion of achieving an optimal work-life balance has become a key goal for working professionals worldwide, men and women alike. A Bayt.com survey about employee motivation in the Middle East workplace has actually shown that 91 per cent of working professionals in the region consider work-life balance a vital factor which directly affects their motivation levels at work.

Interestingly though, only one third of UAE professionals believe that their company shows an interest in the well-being of its employees. And while 43 per cent of respondents claim that they have a good work-life balance, 57 per cent believe the opposite.

In light of the above, everyone should take a step back and contemplate why they are not being able to maintain a healthy balance between their office and their family life. Below are some rituals to observe to ensure you get it right:

• Manage your time effectively

Learn to work “smart” as opposed to “long”, and focus on making your precious hours at work much more condensed and productive so you can leave the office on time as many days as possible.

• Get organised

Poor organisation could lead to your work hours bleeding into your personal time and to that constant feeling of panic and confusion. To-do lists are a great tool to help you both organise and prioritise your daily tasks.

Keep your lists realistic; if you find that you have too many things to do and too little time, you need to either delegate or schedule to do them later.

• Do not shy away from saying ‘no’

Focus primarily on your own job responsibilities and your own personal and family activities which make you and your loved ones happy, and don’t try to take on other people’s workloads, roles and responsibilities.

• Do not compromise on the quality of your output

Take a course if you feel that your skills need polishing up and don’t delay. Plenty of options are available to brush up on key skills, including industry conferences and seminars, online tutorials, part-time classroom courses and condensed intensive programmes that should have you feeling in control again in no time.

• Check your options

Does your company support telecommuting, job sharing, part-time work or freelancing? Job flexibility can undoubtedly be a key factor in achieving a more optimal work-life balance.

• Set clear expectations with management

Achieving a better work-life balance means mutually agreeing on goals and targets with your manager and keeping communication channels very open. Be clear about what matters most to you. Almost a quarter of respondents in a Bayt.com poll on work-life balance in the Middle East would opt for a flexitime arrangement with similar hours; one in 10 would prefer a work-from-home arrangement.

The answer to achieving work-life balance may not be in juggling everything but rather in prioritising.

This is not easy and some may think it is completely unrealistic. The goal may be for small steps and small wins, rather than huge changes. The idea is to take a realistic look at what your life looks like now and write down your priorities so you can start rearranging different parts of your life into a better whole.

Lama Ataya heads the marketing department at the Middle East’s leading jobs site Bayt.com