Personal Reflections: What the pandemic has (re)taught me about work-life balance

With the pandemic came work from home, remote school, and burnout...it’s also shone a spotlight on the often invisible work of parenthood, which could lead to more flexible, meaningful and productive ways of working in the future

Of all the roles I’ve had in my life, being a mom is by far the most rewarding. Being a mother of two has had a huge impact on my career and vice-versa, and particularly over the last year-and-a-half. The pandemic has completely shifted our routines at home- my weekly work trips abruptly came to a halt, my kids grappled with schooling from home in March-July 2020, and then moved to a mix of full-time and hybrid in-person models that came with their own surprising advantages and new stressors; and my husband experienced similar disruption with his work.

For working mothers in particular, the pandemic has brought to the forefront the burden of the ‘double shift’ of housework, childcare, and work responsibilities, of which working mothers in particular often bear the burden. According to McKinsey, nearly a quarter of mothers said they worried that their work performance was being judged negatively because of their caregiving responsibilities (compared with 11% of fathers).?

While parenting and homeschooling often takes a bigger toll on women, this has not been the case for me - my husband is a specialist in online education and a teacher, who has been preparing teachers and schools on how to educate online for years - even before the pandemic (and with Google Classroom!). Pre-pandemic, I was often on the road, while my husband carried the “school and homework” duties. For the first time in 15 years, we had to completely re-establish our home operations. I was now the one at home while my family went to work and school - so strange for me to be home alone! I quickly came to realize that my children didn’t think I was capable of helping them with their studying or papers - needless to say, it’s been a humbling experience :)?

The self-reflection that the last year+ has afforded me personally has impacted not only the way I parent, but the way I work as well. These are a couple of the takeaways that I hope to carry from my experience into the post-pandemic future of work:?

If your work/life boundaries feel too blurred, redraw them.?

I love working, I love being a part of helping people and businesses develop and grow; I know that this is an important creative outlet for me that gives me energy for my family and home life as well.

Just as in business, merciless prioritization in my life is key. Whether it’s family, career, or building in personal time to my schedule, I try to be very clear with myself on what my 3-4 biggest priorities are and why. This was more clear when there were boundaries to my work and family life- for example, I would go away on a work trip, fully immersed in my work and surrounded by my colleagues - I’d then come home to be present with my family. This year blended boundaries in new ways: My colleagues are now ‘in the kitchen’ with me while I make a salad, and my kids are all around me every day.?

In my personal experience, burnout has been less of an issue than the monotony of the same day every day - going from traveling weekly around the world to being in the same space every day, some days barely even making it outside. There was no hard stop at home, and I needed to learn how to take breaks, schedule what was important for me personally and for our family.?

As the lines of work and home blurred, it’s been more important than ever to articulate and carve out the space we need to balance the needs of our work and personal lives. At Google, we helped Googlers prioritize space for wellbeing. We provided things like remote stretching sessions, meditation and prompts to take breaks, and some teams even instituted “no meeting” days or “low meeting” weeks. Within my own team, we carved out non-work meetings to just connect and have fun, and created a standing time to have lunch together.?

Active listening is key

Early on in my marriage, my husband and I built our goals for our life together, and we discuss and review them every year to ensure we are on the same page, if there’s a need for any tweaks and make sure we know what we are looking forward to in our future. I know, you may be thinking ‘Wow that is so HR of you!’

We’ve carried this forward with our children, too, and it has been such an important part of our family unit during the pandemic. Listening to the needs of everyone equally -? asking our children, for example, where and when they need me to be truly present with them- helps us all better understand the demands we’re all feeling and play an active role in figuring out a right plan that works for everyone at home. Particularly during the pandemic, it’s been easy to fall into the trap of being physically present without being mentally present. You can’t be everything to everyone all the time, and so listening to my family’s needs has helped me better prioritize being truly present in the moments that matter most to them.??

Similarly at work, listening to the needs of employees can be harder to measure in geographically distributed teams. During the pandemic, it’s been so important to stay on the pulse of how our Googlers are feeling, particularly across different demographics like working mothers and underrepresented communities, and to use those insights to drive action. In Google Cloud, we conduct regular “Pulse” surveys that help us understand employee challenges in-the-moment and rapidly identify solutions that provide support where needed - for example, giving Googlers additional time off to support their wellbeing in light of COVID-19.

With the pandemic came work from home, remote school, and yes - at times, burnout. But at the same time, it has shone a spotlight on the often invisible work of parenthood and educators and as a result it has forced us to create new structures and ways of working that could lead to more flexible, meaningful and productive lives both at work and at home in the future. As organizations begin to embrace this change, it’s important to listen to the needs of those around you, be honest about the pressures you’re facing both with your colleagues and your family, and don’t be afraid to articulate your priorities and limits. Moving from a very structured and dynamic travel work life to re-entering my family’s world at home, I’m learning a great deal about how to create new ways of finding balance now that I can no longer just block time for work on my plane rides!?