What do you do if your work-life balance as a telecommunication expert is suffering?

Work life balance, or life-work balance as a more appropriate term, is critical across the board and should be considered for all staff. And while it is expected to be handled by the staff, it is very much the responsibility of the manager to provide clear priorities, to review what must be done (important), what is timely (urgent), what is both and what is neither. Prioritization is then easier, and should be accompanied by a mentoring approach by the manager, to convey that important *and* urgent tasks go first, then the important ones, then the urgent ones, and then the rest. Of course, the estimated workload for a given staff over a given period must be realistic, and should ideally be estimated and verified together with the staff.

Time management is a skill! And while many think it is common sense, there is science behind it, techniques that one can learn, tools that can be leveraged, but they should all be considered within the context of your role as well as your personality. Avoid disruptions, breakdown tasks into manageable discrete sub-tasks, plan your day(s), use a calendar to schedule events and tasks, track your time, set focus, work, breaks and down time, start with the hard tasks, stop when it is time to stop and don't go beyond your limits, push things back or reprioritize if and as needed. And most importantly, learn and adjust based on what works best for you.

Clear, concise and precise communication is critical and this can not be repeated enough. Many of today's interactions are done hastily and while multitasking, without giving it the level attention needed to ensure that there is no ambiguity in the communication and that is done efficiently and effectively. With that in mind, it is important to communicate clearly especially when it comes to life work balance, what existing benefits are, what exceptions may exist, and what issues the team may be feeling which remain unaddressed. To keep staff engaged and motivated, they must also feel like their work engagement does not impede other important priorities and values for their personal lives.