1,000 Emails a Day?

When a BlackBerry service outage occurred recently, I read a quote in a news article from a user who was annoyed at the loss of service. This user said he was tremendously inconvenienced by the outage, since he receives almost 1,000 emails each day. He said that makes it difficult enough to keep up, but with no service, even more so. He was going to ask his employer to get him a Treo as a backup device.

I don't know if that number was a misprint or not, but if it wasn't, one thousand emails a day is mind-boggling. Something is amiss if one person alone has to handle a thousand emails each day. Let's do some quick math. Even if he spent on average only 30 seconds reading each email, that would equate to more than 8 straight hours of reading. And that doesn't include replies, meetings, phone calls, restroom breaks, or lunch. How could anyone possibly do that each and every day?

Sounds like it might be time for another person to journey down the Road to Gumption!

90 Percent (!) Want More Balance

In a recent national survey commissioned by ConAgra Foods, 90 percent of Americans want to have a more balanced life, but only 21 percent of them think it's possible. Of the people who make New Year's resolutions, 60 percent will break those resolutions in the first 3 months of the new year.

A good percentage of those resolutions relate to diet and losing weight, and ConAgra is using this data to promote some new health and wellness initiatives. But I find the numbers compelling but not surprising, that such a high percentage desire change, but such a low percentage believe that it's achievable.

If only more people were to practice The 5 P's of Change ... prepare, plan, pursue, persevere, and positive. Of course, I'm biased because that's been my Road to Gumption for embracing change.

Happy New Year! And keep your eyes on the Road ... to Gumption.

Silent Night

It's Christmas Eve, and I hope all of you are enjoying the holiday season while keeping it all in balance. This is the time of year when we tend to get swept up in too many things, and pulled in too many directions at once. Remember to decide what's the most important to you and your LOAF (loved ones and family). And I hope you've set aside some time for LOAF-ing over the next week!

Whether you're on the Road to Gumption, or just on the road to your holidays, Merry Christmas to all!

Coming Back to the Surface

I've been on hiatus from blogging due to personal and family priorities occupying the forefront. Part of being on the Road to Gumption is knowing when you can't do everything, and knowing what's most important. Ensuring that my father knows he is not alone, in the aftermath of my mother's passing, became a top priority of the past few weeks.

This is the first Thanksgiving I've experienced knowing that one of my parents is no longer with us. Actually, my wife experienced a similar feeling as well, since her father also passed away over the summer. I was reminded yet again of how important this issue of balancing one's priorities is. My mother lived a long life, and her sudden passing was, in retrospect, a blessing because she lived her normal lifestyle up until the very end. But it was completely unexpected.

And so, as it's often said, you never know. If you don't spend the time along the way, you might not get to spend the time at all. That's what I try to remind myself about, every so often.

Keep your eyes on the Road ... to Gumption.

Balance Really Takes Gumption

At a lunch I had with an associate recently, my point was once again validated that it does indeed require gumption to create work life balance. My friend was telling me about his girlfriend, who is a nurse in a very busy medical practice. She works a reasonably normal-length work week, but the issue is vacation time. Though she has lots of it, her bosses will not let her schedule the time off, saying that they can't have her out of the office that long. Yet other, "less critical" people seem to be able to have their vacation requests approved.

My associate said that his girlfriend's stress level runs high through the week, and on Fridays it actually takes a couple of hours for her to ratchet down. Then on Sunday afternoons, the stress level starts to climb again, in anticipation of a new work week. Even on the occasional days off that she's been able to schedule, she might still call in to the office once or twice. To my friend's suggestion of being more firm with her bosses about her desire to take several days off in a row, his girlfriend replies that she really needs her job.

This is not an unusual scenario, probably being replayed in thousands of offices as I write this. But what's the answer?

You have to have the gumption to make a statement for what you want. That doesn't mean that you become unreasonable or threaten to quit your job. You're simply saying that you would like more than just a long weekend when it comes to time off. If the office is set up where they say they can't do without you for more than a day or so, then there's something wrong. Make sure there are other people who can do your job or back you up while you're away.

In short, have the gumption to NOT be indispensable, and make a statement for the balance you want to achieve. Everyone needs time off to recharge their batteries, so if your management isn't allowing you that time, then you might have to rethink your long-term employment plans and seek something else.

Keep your eyes on the Road! ... to Gumption.

Who's in Charge Here, Anyway?

Previously I wrote about today's technologies of "always on" and "always connected" not being the most conducive to work life balance. While those Blackberrys, Qs, and Treos are great to stay in touch anywhere you have a signal, they can be addictive. Worse yet, being responsive 24/7 can create an expectation, and if that person doesn't respond right away, the reaction is "what happened?"

I've known a number of people with very senior titles like vice president, senior vice president, senior director, etc. who are certainly very busy people because of what they do. But although they have titles that seem to indicate that they're in charge of their organizations, their actions don't always seem to follow. Last-minute crunches are one thing, but emails, text chats, and phone calls that take place routinely on weekends, nights, and even during family vacations indicate a very different issue: not being in charge of your destiny.

Who is in charge, anyway? You should be. Use that "off" switch when you need to.

Welcome to the Road to Gumption

Hello, and welcome to this new blog on the topic of balancing one's work and personal life priorities. I will be sharing my observations and thoughts on the topic through periodic posts, and welcome your comments and your experiences as well. Work-life balance is a very broad discussion, but the important thing is to have a discussion about it. That's what I wanted to foster when I wrote The Road to Gumption.

My starting observation is a seed for future thought and discussion. The very advances that make us more productive in the workplace today are potentially the things that create a misalignment of work and personal priorities. A recent survey showed that something like one-third of workers on vacation still use email for business purposes during that vacation. That would include BlackBerries, Treos, and hotel high-speed Internet connections.

So technologies that should allow us to get our work done in less time, in some cases cause us to work even longer hours, though not necessarily at the office. What are your thoughts on this? More from me later.