7 Leaders Share Insights About Work-Life Balance
Most of us want to balance success at work with happiness at home. MBA@Syracuse asked seven business leaders how they accomplish that work-life harmony. Here are their tips.
Use your calendar.
“I put everything on my calendar, including time to exercise, important events I must attend with my children, and even an hour on Sundays when I prepare for my workweek.”
—Jessica Wang, Senior Vice President of Placement at 2U
“I schedule important life events, and even sports. … I guard them like I do important work meetings.”
—Mark A. Weinberger, Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at EY
Compartmentalize.
“When balancing multiple priorities, my advice would be to compartmentalize. ‘One thing at a time’ is an old but very useful adage.”
—Jessica Lee, Director of Global LifeWorks & Inclusion at Discovery Communications
“Try compartmentalizing different aspects of your life. Only think about those projects, to-do lists, or relationships when you are allocating time to [them].”
—Mike Malloy, Chief Executive Officer at Waveborn Sunglasses
Keep non-work commitments.
“You cannot succeed in keeping your work commitments long term if you don’t keep your commitments outside of work. They could be family, sport, hobby-related … After you plan them, keep your commitments.”
—Mark A. Weinberger, Global Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at EY
Let others pitch in.
“For me, work-life balance works when I trust someone to cover my responsibilities while I’m periodically unavailable—and then making certain I’m periodically unavailable.”
—Bill McIntyre, Director at Ketchum Washington
Prioritize.
“Balance is not a percentage of time assigned between work and personal life. Balance is the right combination of things I need to be my best. In order to know what balance looks like for me, I have to be honest with myself (and others) about who I am and what is important to me.”
—Anissa Davenport, Chief Strategic Development and Marketing Officer at Vidant Health
Focus.
“Allocate two- to four-hour blocks of time for deep, focused work on a project without checking your inbox or social media.”
—Mike Malloy, Chief Executive Officer at Waveborn Sunglasses
Define and reset.
“Define small, achievable things at the beginning of your day, rather than taking stock at the end of the week. Every day I get to reset the clock on what balance looks like based on what I know lies ahead, and it helps me create a more realistic set of ‘balance moments’ in a world where no two days are the same.”
—Shannon Eis, Vice President of Corporate Communications at Yelp
Citation for this content: MBA@Syracuse, Syracuse University’s online MBA program