The junior partner had fear of not pleasing the senior partner, the office staff had fear of not pleasing the junior partner.

In any team environment, we need to have candor enough to call BS and push back. The push back should be back to the senior partner on “how soon would you read this if I got it to you by tomorrow?” The answer would probably have been it isn’t necessary.

The problem is an office worker questioning the junior partner might be met with the junior partner’s fear of “I will loose control if they call me out on it”

That is the fear which kills teams.

That being said, good time management skills include building in flexibility. Especially if you have a boss who doesn’t keep to the clock or stick to a schedule, then you need to learn to roll with it…or find a new job!

In some situations, by being able to yell “Emergency!” people can cover up the fact that with their proper groundwork, work could’ve been done smoothly and calmly. It’s a pain to plan ahead, and it’s a pain to set priorities — calling “emergency!” is a way to make it someone else’s problem. Arrgh!

My work straddles science and IT. On the IT side, there are always people with urgent needs and on the science side, there is the cultural attitude that if you are a “real” scientist you want to do nothing but science all the time.

Still, I feel like I manage to keep the fake emergencies at bay and feel pretty good about my work-home balance. I have always been opposed to long hours, since I realized in grad school that I was actually getting LESS done when I pulled long hours (this was long before I had kids). So I go home on time most days with zero guilt despite the occasional raised eyebrow from colleagues.

The thing I struggle to handle, though, is the emergencies that are real, bona fide emergencies, but only got that way because someone else failed to plan. There is a famous quote, posted above many IT people’s desks about this- “A failure to plan on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part” or something like that. But I struggle to really live that. Honestly, dealing with that nonsense was easier before I had kids and a mortgage, back when losing a job would have been an excuse to go on an extended trip and not a financial nightmare. I think one of the reasons I’m so obsessive about keeping a good savings buffer is that I always want to feel like I could walk away from a job if the demands got too crazy.

Thanks for the post- AWM

Yes, managers need to realize that their human capital is at risk if they overwork them and impede on their family life, but I don’t think that’s in the cards in the immediate future. Although, if we make enough noise about prioritizing, perhaps some corporate executives might listen.

What can happen is a shift in the mind of the worker; perspective on what an employee needs to do to make it work for them.

At this point it’s a game of survival. (And I truly feel it’s taking the reins of ones inner workings.) How we respond to this crisis is up to us for now. Y’all know I’m a big proponent of scheduling some “downtime” or “whitespace” in the calendar.

I think it accelerates the ability to think critically, to create, and to stay competitive in an info-overloaded environment. That’s my work life fit and it may not work for everyone – but isn’t it worth a shot?

When people ask me how to get more work/life balance (a word I know we both hate). I tell them:

Set boundaries (and stick to them – like no email/vm checking on weekends)

Manage expectations (bosses, family, friends)

Say “no” – and really won’t everyone in your life ask for more, more, more until you finally say “no.”

Ask for help – it does take a village at work and at home to succeed in life