Work-life balance: What if I fail my family, what if my company does not see me in the same light  if I don’t achieve targets?

This is the story of A. Seeking to be a high achiever, he starts his working day at 9 am to plan and execute better. He works till 7.30 in the evening, goes home, has dinner and then works a couple of more hours thereafter till midnight. He wakes up between 6.30 and 7 am, crams in a bit of private time with breakfast and is back at the study table. What’s the result after six months? His relationships have nosedived, with him rarely getting time or energy to spend with his loved ones. He feels fatigued most times and though his performance sheet was top notch for the first three months, of late he has begun to slip up there too.
If you relate to A’s life, then you, like him, are suffering from performance pressure anxieties. We want to be productive at the workplace and manage home with the same efficiency without realising whether our bodies and minds can handle the pressure in the first place. This is where the key challenge is. Your mind is a swirl of questions. How do I perform my best? How do I give my 100 per cent? How do I find time for myself to be able to sustain my performance for a long innings and experience the joys of living? How do I find time for myself, my family, my loved ones? There are more questions, doubts and fears than reasonable goal-setting. That too goals that flow with your rhythms rather than being normative.
If for A, it was the volume of work, B came to me with a constant pressure of targets. Being a top performer at work, he continued taking on roles and responsibilities to achieve his targets. But as the journey continued, there came a time when targets that were motivational goals for B became a major pressure situation. Even though B was performing well, the worry about what would go wrong didn’t stop. He wondered, “What if it does not work, what if I fail people, what if my company does not see me in the same light and what if I don’t achieve the targets?” This became his constant preoccupation. And just because targets became a pressure trigger, he couldn’t enjoy working with his colleagues. He became irritable, started to snap at colleagues and fell way short of his self-imposed targets.

Another example is that of C, a multi-tasker who wanted to excel both at work and in her personal space. Pulled in different directions for a prolonged period, she was unable to stay focussed, was easily dracted, made a lot of makes and had a last-minute rush in finishing deadlines. This led to her feeling constantly on edge and running behind schedule.
Let us understand what we need to do as A, B, and C to manage our work life effectively.
1) First, value work-life balance and understand that for you to have long-term success, you need to be maintaining your sense of energy and purpose throughout. Our work life is not like a sprint that you run your best for 100 metres and then  take a break. Rather it is almost like a never-ending marathon and for you to continue to do well, you need to take care of yourself, pace yourself and give time to yourself. Work life balance begins at work.
2) Second, look at your work lifestyle — Are you on time? Do you give yourself adequate time so that you don’t feel rushed? Are you able to maintain your day-to-day functionality effectively? Are you able to ensure that you don’t have a lot of backlog at the end of day? Are you able to delegate well? Are you maintaining good interpersonal relationships with your colleagues so that you can work together when you make targets? Likewise, are you able to plan your targets in a way that you know how you have to plan the next weeks or months as an approach to your target? How do you organise yourself at your workplace?
3) It is important to understand that taking multiple short breaks during your working day is helpful. Let’s say you work for 45 minutes, move around and take a short break, hydrate yourself, talk to a colleague and come back. While you are doing one task, make sure other tasks are not around you.
4) Have an uncluttered table, do not take calls or scroll your phone, do not text at that time and do not have multiple windows open while you are working. Give your best when you are working and then take a break. That is how you will be able to maintain a higher level of efficiency while you are working.
5) Be aware of the triggers or the warning signs that the body gives. If you feel fatigued and are not able to do your best, take a break for a couple of days, or take a half day.
6) When it comes to working from home, try not taking your work back home as far as possible even if it means spending a little bit of extra time at your workplace. You need to give time to yourself, family, friends, fun and relaxation. These are very important and do not think that if you reduce your me-time, you will end up doing better. On the contrary, if your me-space is supportive, happy, comfortable and enjoyable, then automatically you’ll do better at work as well with concentrated energy.

So, for A, B and C, it was about a correction in their approach, thought process, a belief in themselves that they could set benchmarks in individual achievements even while working together in teams and prioritising their physical health.
Lastly, never hesitate to seek help from your superiors. If you are struggling at work, make sure to speak to someone as at different junctures of life, we all need some coaching, hand holding and support.