Take a Cue from Sheryl Sandberg: Steps for Creating Better Work-Life Synthesis

Recently, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg made headlines with the video confession about how she leaves work at 5:30 p.m. to be with her kids at dinnertime. This comment sparked great discussion around the ways that both men and women are creating their own work-life synthesis, every day.

To us, creating work-life synthesis means identifying all of your professional-life needs, along with all of your personal-life needs, and finding ways to make the two gel together into complementary parts of a whole life.

In your mission to find work-life synthesis, take a cue from Sheryl Sandberg. A highly successful business woman, Sandberg was able to manage the demands of her career while creating time for her family — flexing between hopping offline at 5:30 p.m. to be with her family, and then back online later in the evening to manage work demands. It’s all about finding a routine that works for you.

Identifying your own work-life synthesis

Trying to find that elusive work-life synthesis? Consider these steps.

1. Re-evaluate

First, start by identifying what’s most important to you, both personally and professionally. Why do you go to work everyday? What do you hope to achieve or maintain? What do you want to spend more time doing? What keeps you awake at night?

2. Re-prioritize

Think about how you can re-prioritize your time. Can you re-work your routine to better accomodate your top priorities? Another important thing to consider are things that drain your time and energy. On a typical day, what things do you waste the most time doing or dealing with? Is there a pattern?

3. Re-define

Now that you’ve identified what’s most important to you and the obstacles that stand in your way, what resources will you need to be successful? Tools? Time? Flexibility?  Will your current job accomodate these needs, or do you need to find a job that will allow you to work more flexible hours, have a shorter commute, or work from home at times?

Taking the time to identify your top priorities and the things that stand in your way will help you create an action plan to achieve better synthesis. What do you have to lose, besides wasted energy?

Get help with finding flexible work here.

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