Ben Hooppell
1st Year intern
A healthy work/life balance is an aspect of life that can be difficult when it is not actively strived for. It is often referred to as juggling because of the numerous aspects that need to be considered. As a former paramedic, working day, afternoon and night shifts made time management difficult due to my constantly changing schedule but I did my best to maintain a healthy balance. This work, in addition to the responsibilities of an elite athlete taught me the importance of time management and encouraged the development of skills to effectively balance my time.
Starting the internship prompted a re-evaluation of my time management strategies as I now had to balance a new work schedule alongside commitments as an elite athlete, university studies and maintaining time for relaxation and breaks. From this re-evaluation, I identified aspects that contribute to a healthy work/life balance and developed these accordingly.
Set clear goals and priorities and address problems early.
Setting goals provides a clear target to aim for and helps in prioritising tasks that align with achieving these goals. In my case, goals are related to work, life and particularly sport. Identifying time commitments and deliverables assist in prioritization as it gives a base to start to develop a schedule.
Create a structured schedule
Changing careers from a paramedic roster to a general work roster has provided me with a significantly improved schedule. As a paramedic, shift work will constantly change your schedule which can be beneficial or detrimental and made organisation extremely difficult. By identifying priorities and time commitments, a schedule is much easier to structure to ensure a better life balance. Starting a schedule by inputting definitive time commitments helps in identifying free time which can be then sorted between study, socialising and other extracurricular activities. This schedule results in efficiency and accountability and can make it obvious when you have fallen behind.
Develop effective work and study techniques
After completing two undergraduate degrees and in the process of completing a post-graduate degree, I have developed skills to assist in both work and study. In my opinion, the most important aspect of work and study is making sure that the time is used effectively. During this time, I ensure I am actively learning or working with draft notes being written to assist in understanding and summaries compiled to look back on in the future. Taking breaks to stand up and move around helps with circulation and can prevent burnout during the day and reviewing what I have achieved at work or during study at the end of the session is a positive habit to both summarise, evaluate and celebrate the work I completed in the day.
Ensure self-care is not dropped to the wayside
There are often periods of increased work, study or sport in which free time will decrease. These times are when I am particularly conscious of self-care as it can often be forgotten. Meal preparation can ensure that a healthy diet is maintained and purposefully allocating time for relaxation can help with the prevention of burnout. It is an often under realised aspect of a healthy work/life balance.
Evaluate and adjust
Each aspect of time management needs to be evaluated and adjusted as life progresses. There are many changes that will happen in life and the ability to adjust with these changes and address problems early is important in keeping a balance. Sometimes work commitments will increase and more time will need to be allocated to that, or sport commitments will increase. As long as you are managing your time effectively, you should be able to overcome these.
Celebrate success in all aspects of life
Finally, it is important to celebrate success. It may seem like an obvious final point but we are often swept up in life that successes may not be sufficiently celebrated. It is important to acknowledge the importance of when a project step is completed, a game is won, an assignment is completed or a social gathering was attended. This will help in maintaining enthusiasm and enjoyment in life and ensures success in all aspects of work and life.