Welcome Professionals…
…a perceived lack of work-life balance is the number one reason for top management consultants to choose another job. Does that always solve the problem? I doubt it.
You will want to achieve a balance of your working life and your other life while you are working as a consultant. This is a stretch and we all know it. The consulting life style is so much time consuming that it sometimes leaves hardly enough time to cater for the most existential needs like food and sleep.
To have a feeling of work-life balance, it is absolutely not necessary to spend the same amount of time on some “life activities” as you spend on your work. Your job is part of your life. What you do need to have a fulfilled life and a sustainable operating model is a feeling of perceived balance of your various priority items in life.
In any case, you want to make sure that you attribute some time besides the job for the following categories:
- sleep
- physical activity
- reflection
- relaxation
- connection
- play
Make sure that you consciously allocate time to each of the above categories. When you spend time on them, try to focus your attention on the actual activity that is on your agenda. As soon as you unconsciously skip any of these items for a longer time frame or sacrifice them completely in favour of work, you will feel unbalanced.
It is really hard to make these areas part of your regular habits. We will talk about this in upcoming episodes of Thursday Night Flight.
See you next time!
Malte
Thursday Night Flight is brought to you by Malte Müller Professionals. Sharing best practices for top management consultants on topics like communication, client handling, problem solving, appearance, and fitness. Check out www.mm-professionals.com for more material and free resources!