Tag Archives: Work-life balance

Three tips for surviving corporate life.

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surviving corporate life

Sunset Girl via Unsplash

Sometimes the corporate world can feel like career Heaven, with loads of challenging projects and an awesome benefit package.  And sometimes it can feel like cubicle Hell, where you endlessly grind away at something you don’t believe in and are powerless to change.

Maybe your career priorities have shifted over time, or maybe this gig is just a pit-stop on your way to better things.  Whatever has put you in corporate survival mode, here are 3 things to remember to help you get through the days:

You are not your job.  Of course you want your work to align with your personal mission and beliefs, and maybe this isn’t exactly the career you imagined.  But sometimes it takes awhile to get there.  In the meantime, focus on who you are outside of work.  Good health, positive relationships and engaging interests are just as important as your day job.  Volunteering also has surprising time and energy benefits.

You are in control.  Maybe not every minute of every day, but unless you work on the production line, there is likely some flexibility in how you arrange your time and activities.  You definitely control when get to work, how you look, what you do during breaks and lunch…you get the idea.  You chose to be here (yes, you really did) and you get to choose how each day will go down.  Choose wisely.

You are here to learn.  You are in the best place to observe organizational dynamics and to absorb how businesses really work.  Bureaucracies can be mind-numbingly slow to change, but the upside is that it gives you a chance to learn what really moves the needle.  At the task level, having a variety of departments around you gives you the opportunity to explore what interests you and start growing your skill set accordingly.

 

How about you?  Are you in corporate Heaven or Hell?  I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

P.S. Are we Twitter friends yet?  Find me @TheMgmtMaven

 

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Finding balance.

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Finding balance

This weekend, my son got his first bike.

It’s the kind without pedals, meant to teach him balance.  Riding it is all he wants to do.  All the time.  And when I look at his little face, so totally focused on his task, I can see myself.

My energies tend toward extremes.  If I do something, I want to do it 100%.  Otherwise, I feel that I lack commitment.  That I’m somehow an imposter.

Whatever I’m tackling, it can’t be anything unless it is everything.

So being a stay-at-home mom was a struggle for me.  Although I love being with my son, much of the Mommy lifestyle is outside my comfort zone.  I find all the activities, classes, and play dates physically and mentally draining.  And for awhile, I beat myself up for that.  I felt that if I wasn’t giving it everything, I wasn’t doing it right.  Or worse, that I didn’t deserve this awesome opportunity I had been given.

But we can’t shame ourselves into being something we’re not.

At some point, we have to accept that we are who we are and move forward.  My kid will be just fine, even if I’m not the most outgoing Mom on the playground.  And my career will be fine, too, even if for now, I can only squeeze in a few hours after bedtime.

Like the bike with no pedals, it feels awkward and scary.  But eventually we find our balance.