work life balance

[Zoe Girl]

This is hard for us all huh. It is coming to a head because first of all the non-profit/govt grant world is a lot of work and low pay. But also I just am overdone with overdoing it. I have a lot of other things to do in life.

Today is my meeting with supervisor and I am behind on paperwork. Some of the reports are just not coming up correctly but I am on top of entering all the data. So I hope it works out and we just figure out how to get the reports. I know she is frustrated with all of us, and I am frustrated too.

So I have lots of things on my plate here. A family night, putting in 3 more programs after school (2 created by me and my para helper) and trying to boost registration in our base childcare program. I could hire one more person at 5 hours a week but there is no one available. I realized I will put in a lot of extra this week for the family night since I did not have my base program in shape to have kids help, and usually this is my fave project. It is one I kinda push through resistance. Now it is expecte in my role so I realized my attitude needs to shift. Instead of treating it as an extra they are allowing me to do as in previous years, it is an expectation of my job and I should be able to do it within the hours allowed.

So now how to express this to my supervisor while respecting she is putting a lot of extra unpaid hours as well. I don't want to express it in a way that says I have a problem and need help in some sort of family crisis. I have a family, they take time, and it wouldn't matter if I was like her and had no children. I still need to work my hours and watch going very much over in the week.

[Jilly]

Hard, true. Balance is tricky at the best of times. All you can do is all you can do.

I also am frustrated by reports and other documentation that refuse to behave. :~)

[JaneV2.0]

It may be different in pink-collar work groups but in general, mentioning family obligations is counter-productive. It can limit future promotions and consideration for more demanding jobs. I'm always taken aback by how hard many people need to work to make a non-living wage--in my experience, pay is inversely proportional to effort required.

[SteveinMN]

What — aside from meaningless noise — would be gained by asking the New York Philharmonic to play Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony faster and faster each year? - Tim Jackson, professor


There is an increasing body of evidence out there -- real scientific studies -- that supports the concept that continual overwork is leading us to be less effective than we were in the days of 40-hour weeks. So much needs attention and it's always more complicated and there are no more people to work on it. I don't know if it would be helpful to you to point out key findings of some of these studies. Some companies really value paying 'consultants' to tell them the same thing their employees could tell them if only they had been asked. >8)

Survival really has to be a matter of prioritization. That's a conversation you can have with your supervisor. It can be as simple as saying that you want to work most effectively. To do that, you need to work first on the tasks that have the most value to the organization. The amount of work involved in each of these tasks has to be considered, as well. So must be your ability to complete these tasks reasonably in a 40-hour week (or however many you want to work). Special projects are something else, especially if they're ones you enjoy, but not continual.

A task that takes hours to put together but really may not go anywhere at all after you're done should be eliminated or moved way down the priority list or at least streamlined to greatly reduce the amount of time it takes. Similarly, easy tasks should not have high priority just because they're simple. Agree with your supervisor on the tasks to be accomplished in the period until your next review. Any new task that comes in during that time should be responded to with a request to your supervisor to determine its priority and what projects may have to be bumped to accomplish it. Don't worry that the list you have may be longer than 40 hours a week; schedules change and responsibilities change, but the stuff at the bottom of the list either should self-promote after a while or drop off the list as not having enough value over time.

You have to put a boundary on this. Your supervisor will not.

[Zoe Girl]

HTank you all, steve that was good practical advice. I KNOW that I see that drop off in effectiveness. Some people have given me strange looks becuase i bring things like crochet and then show up an hour early for a meeting to sit off to the side and just work on a project. very relaxing.

I am happy there seems to be some excitement from the kids and parents about this special event. My next step of business is to write out the detailed ways to get all the reports printed, our report says things that do not match up and I only do this once a month. So probably Friday my staff will just run everything and i will get that done.

But at least I get a new chair! actually one newer than the 60's. Another joy of non-prfit, we do not waste money on the office.

[sweetana3]

Well some nonprofits do waste money a lot of money. We have a few here with 100% new offices, furniture, vehicles, etc. Nothing is ever too good for them.

My favorite one can really stretch a dollar and works very hard to make sure all donations are used fully.

[sweetana3]

Just a note about the crafting at work. I used to do the same thing because I would get to work so early and often have to stay later to catch a shared ride. It was fine for some of those I worked with but there were a few others including one of my bosses that expected me to be working whenever I was in the building (if they could see me). It got a little nasty once. I was 100% secure in my job so I did not care but beware of the perceptions. I finally moved into the cafeteria so out of sight out of mind and did not do it around coworkers.

People under pressure to perform dont like to see others relaxing around them. Not right but happens.

[herbgeek]

To add to what sweetana mentioned, having someone see you crocheting while hearing you at the same time say how swamped and overworked you are could be a mixed message, and you may not get the result you are hoping for. Yes, I know its your "own" time and you should be able to do that, just be aware of the perception it could leave with others.