Developing a Work-life Balance for Sustaining a Productive
Career and Your Sanity
Henry (Rique) Campa, III, Ph.D.
Associate Dean, The Graduate School and
Professor of Wildlife Ecology
campa@msu.edu, 517/353-2042
Objectives:
1) Identify and describe strategies for trying to
develop a sustainable work-life balance.
2) Implement “The CIRTL Challenge”
Themes:
-Work
-Family & Friends
-Self
-Time Management
*Participant Responses*
What is the most challenging aspect of striving to reach a
work-life balance? With the understanding, sometimes work has
to be a priority, sometimes you or your family has to be a priority.
Campa, 27 Feb 2013 Work-Life Balance
Work
-Do the hard stuff first or during the part of the day when
you are most alert.
-R. Boice – “Quick Starters”. Can you write for at least 30
minutes everyday?
Family/Friends
-Family-sit down and eat dinner together as often as
possible, make it a priority or sit down and eat with a
friend twice a week. Everyone has to eat!
-Play together, play frequently-do something active
Campa, 27 Feb 2013 Work-Life Balance
Self
-Find time to take care of yourself physically and it will give you a mental
pick-me-up. See “Spark-The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the
Brain” John J. Ratey, M.D.
-Some interesting statistics:
Individuals 15-yrs-old + spent ~1200 min/wk
watching TV and those 15-19 spent ~490 min/wk
playing games or using a computer for leisure
(US Dept. of Labor 2011)
-Following working and sleeping, TV is the most
commonly reported activity in the US (Harvard School of
Public Health)
-CDC recommends (for adults) that they get 150 min of
moderate intensity aerobic activity (brisk walking) per wk.
(at 10 min blocks is sufficient).
?Can you fit in 20 min of walking at least 6 days/wk?
(or some other form of exercise)
Time Management
-When you do the “hard stuff”, turn off your e-mail,
your cell phone, don’t check Facebook, etc.
-You can’t be productive 24/7, despite what you might
hear or think
-”Pareto’s Principle” (“80/20 Rule”)
Focus 80% of your time/energy on the 20% of your
work projects that are REALLY important
Work smart on the important things (hard stuff)
*Participant Responses*
From the blog—What questions do you have about the strategies I
use to try and reach a work-life balance or about the strategies you
would like to try?
Campa, 27 Feb 2013 Work-Life Balance
“The CIRTL Challenge”
*Implement one goal of something you’ll do differently for 1 week
to try and reach a better work-life balance. Be realistic, what will
you be able to sustain. ?Examples?
*For 1 week keep track of how you spend your time (not minute
by minute) and write a reflection of what happened during each
day. This could be in a notebook or on your computer—you don’t
have to post it anywhere.
*Report-out in 1 week. Successes? Challenges? How will you
address the challenges?