Not a day goes by when I don’t hear someone mention long days at work, lack of family time or the absence of personal time that comes with a poor work-life balance. Working in a hospital setting, I also hear the words of family members who wish for one last day with their loved ones who spent their whole lives committed to work.

I can’t help but ask myself, “Is all this work really necessary, or have we simply become conditioned to feel obligated to make work our first priority?”

Let’s think about this: Does hard work really pay off, or are we taking it too far?

In today’s fast-paced economy, most everyone feels pressure to work a little longer or a little harder to stay ahead of the curve. As managers, we convince ourselves that it will pay off in the long run, but research on the effects of poor work-life balance proves otherwise.

Lack of work-life balance is thought to be a major contributor to stress, along with all of its ill effects. High stress can manifest itself in many different ways and can actually reduce your effectiveness and productivity at work.

Physically you may notice frequent headaches, fatigue, inability to sleep, muscle aches and pains, indigestion, nausea or diarrhea.

Emotionally you may become moody, depressed, anxious, hostile or overly emotional, which can interfere with personal and business relationships.

Mentally stress can lead to forgetfulness, loss of concentration, poor judgment and lack of coordination that can lead to frequent errors, injuries and illness.

Behaviorally you may begin to feel more and more out of control. You may procrastinate and put things off or turn to food, drugs or alcohol to help you cope.

Now, this article is not about stress, but the early warning signs of stress are certainly a wake-up call to step back and re-examine how you are living your life. You may not be convinced that your life is off balance, but most ag managers will tell you they are working way too many hours with not enough rest or down time. So, why not test yourself?

Be aware: Log your work and non-work time
Start by keeping a record of how you spend your time for one week. Take a piece of paper and record the hours you are awake down the left side of the paper. Draw two columns and label one column “work” and the other “non-work.” As you go through your day, place a check mark in the appropriate column each hour to represent if you spent the hour working or not working. Remember, even if you are not physically working, if you spent the better part of the hour mentally preoccupied with work, you will place a check mark in the work column. At the end of the day, add up your check marks in each column. Keep in mind that you do need about eight hours of sleep a night, so your average work and non-work time should equal just about 16 hours a day. At the end of the week, add up the total hours in each column and divide by seven days to determine your average hours worked per day. Are you balanced or taking it too far?

Connecting with others
Now that you have a fairly good idea of the way you spend your time, think about what is really important to you. Are you spending real quality time with family and friends? Have you created strong social supports in your life?

Relationships take time. If you spend most of your time at work (or preoccupied with work) you will have very little energy left to nurture relationships that are so important to a balanced life.

Identify ways you can connect with others outside of work and plan activities that broaden your social interactions and supports.

Time management
Often our non-work time is not relaxing or enjoyable because we have not come up with a good way to manage tasks effectively. For example, you may put off non-farm, household tasks for the weekend and then take the entire weekend trying to complete them. Instead, do a little bit each day and create enjoyable down time on non-work days.

Set realistic, clear expectations
When you set realistic, clear expectations for yourself and for others, everyone knows what to expect. Don’t take non-emergency work calls on the weekend. Train your herdsman or manager to take care of normal business that needs your involvement during the week, then you don’t have to feel guilty for leaving work at work when you walk out the door for a weekend or planned time off. Expectations help everyone limit-set and make the most of their work and non-work time.

Set boundaries
No matter how hard we try to balance our lives, the most important step we can take is to create boundaries. Clear balance can occur when we physically and mentally separate from our work. This may mean that you don’t start new non-essential fix-it projects or maintenance after 4:30 p.m. just in case you need a part or something goes unexpectedly wrong that will need to be fixed before the next shift starts.

It might mean that you don’t come to the dairy at all one day each weekend, or you actually limit yourself to only two hours on Saturday and Sunday mornings to check in at work, but then leave it to trusted co-workers to keep things running smoothly.

Keeping work alive
Just as a healthy work-life balance can help you cope more effectively and be a better manager, there are things you can do to keep work fresh and interesting. Often work extends into personal time because we are not efficient when we are at work. Lack of efficiency can mean many things, but often when we are in a work “rut” we don’t really feel energized or interested in work and it just becomes an obligation. Set goals to achieve every few weeks and establish a timeline for goal achievement. Setting goals can keep your work alive and help motivate efficiency during work hours.

Work has become a defining feature of who we are and our feelings about our value and purpose in the world. However, too much work can lead to inefficiency while it chips away at our health and relationships. Work hard and play hard; the balance will pay off for you personally and professionally. PD

Aadron Rausch
Director of Strategic Engagement
Clarian Arnett Health
arausch@clarianarnett.com