Here's how you can balance your personal life guilt-free as a software designer.

This is how I do it Step 1. Identify main tasks: List all of your duties and responsibilities, both professional and personal. Identify the most important and urgent tasks that need your immediate attention. Step 2: Find the most important task in the list listed in step 1. Evaluate how many important tasks can be done if the important task is completed in descending order of priority and feedback to the team or PO so they can take measures to help. Step 3: Focus on important work as soon as possible

One thing I've found useful is controlling your day, by selecting which task must be handled asap and which can be pushed back later. Your team can also help into lifting the burden if many things become urgent. A combination of good team, optimized schedule and critical thinking can easily balance your work and personal life

Balancing your personal life guilt-free as a software designer involves setting boundaries, prioritizing tasks efficiently, and practicing time management. Delegate when possible, take breaks, and maintain a healthy work-life balance. Embrace hobbies, exercise, and spend time with loved ones to recharge. Communicate openly with colleagues about workload and seek support when needed.

When you love your work, it is easy to just keep on burning the midnight oil on work-related tasks. But always remember that there will continue to be plenty of work to be done. Personal activities, especially family time, are of limited capacity. Plan personal time just as much as you do work-related tasks. And thereby ensure you spend time on personal time, also ensure that personal time gets the same priority as work-related tasks. If you find it difficult to set boundaries, mute notifications from work-related communications during these personal time blocks.

1. Determine working hours: Set clear work hours and stick to them. I use a countdown timer to calculate the remaining time 2. Create a dedicated workspace: - Set up a dedicated workspace at home to create a physical boundary between work and personal life. This helps mentally get out of work mode. - Remove unnecessary items from your desk 3. Learn to say no: Identifying what's most important makes it easier to say no to distractions.

These boundaries should be expressed to your employer if it is needed. Your employer must know some of these boundaries, because, basically, many are found within negotiations, before employment. This way, boundaries will be respected (or should be) and will not be a way to create gaps between your personal life and professional life.

In my projects, automation isn't just a feature—it's a lifeline. From cron jobs monitoring systems to build and deploy scripts streamlining development, automation handles the routine tasks. This approach not only saved countless hours but also allowed me to tackle complex problems that truly moved my projects forward. The peace of mind knowing that systems are being monitored and data analyzed, even when I'm away from my desk, has been invaluable.

Choose something that works and stick with it… even if it doesn’t meet the minimum response character limits. 108 is no good? 125 is?

I’ve come to appreciate the power of effective delegation in maintaining a balanced workload without sacrificing the quality of our output. Trusting the team with specific tasks is essential. It empowers them, fosters their growth, and allows us to concentrate on high-priority projects or personal matters that requires attention. Delegation isn’t just about offloading work; it’s a critical skill that, when mastered, can alleviate the guilt associated with stepping away from my desk. By delegating effectively, I can ensure our team’s productivity and quality remain high while also managing my responsibilities more efficiently.

For those reading this: Work-life balance is a lie. The press said so much that people thought it was true. What we really need is “balance” The above quote is from the book: "The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results" by author Gary Keller