Many people, Technalink included, have braved the challenges of 2020 and are hoping that 2021 is better, with things like the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic and lifestyle disruptions as things we can put behind us in a few months. However, the reality is that it is still here, now, and it’s made unprecedented demands not just on how we live, but even how we work.
The work-life balance has always been an essential concept for us, and maintaining it is a crucial cornerstone of keeping stress and anxiety under control and maintaining good spiritual management. But where there was once a distinction between managing work at an office and managing family at home, now the two are sometimes the same thing as some businesses transition to a Work From Home policy. For women entrepreneurs, especially, this can sometimes be a tricky challenge to manage.
Create New Routines
One of the pillars of both work and home is having a schedule or routine and sticking to it. This sets expectations for everyone and provides a structure that people can refer to and rely on. Of course, in 2020, the big challenge is that the work routine and the home routine are taking place in the same space, instead of two different locations. Compounded onto this is the unpredictability of schooling.
For anyone that has children, there are no guarantees that school will continue to operate traditionally. Some have switched to a hybrid of location-based classes and remote learning. Others have gone back to classes with reduced days, smaller class numbers, social distancing, and the provision that the school will be shut down at any time if an outbreak of COVID-19 is found.
This means creating new structures at home that takes these new conditions into account. Working from home will be a big change, especially if remote learning or homeschooling is thrown into the mix. Without a plan for a new routine or structure, the work-life balance will be disrupted quickly.
Accept That Change & Adaptation Are Inevitable
2020 is the year that things went very wrong, and for women entrepreneurs, it’s not over yet. As people transition to new routines at home, everyone, from managers to employees, will make mistakes, have emergencies, or fall behind schedule as daily demands pile up.
This means that crisis management and dealing with unexpected problems are a part of business life. The proper attitude is changing to an adaptive strategy. It’s always good to plan for things, but in 2020, many unexpected issues will crop up that fall far outside the scope of conventional planning. Exercise empathy and patience as these crises occur. If someone, for example, loses a parent to COVID-19, that’s a call for support and understanding from the whole team, not an indicator that someone’s loss will impact work efficiency, and therefore a dismissal and new hire is in the cards.
Stress Management Is Critical
Part of adaptability is accepting that increased levels of stress are a part of life now. Still, part of the right work-life balance is taking this into accounting and dealing with it. If there is a spouse or other partner in the house, communication is crucial in maintaining manageable routines and sanity. Staying informed, asking for more space when required, or asking for company when it isn’t is part of good communication and stress management.
However, it’s also important to take time for yourself now and again. Meditation techniques using tools like clear quartz mala beads to slow things down and get recentered. Active measures to manage stress for a few minutes whenever feasible does more good than holding out until the end of the day to relax.
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