Brad shares a really simple and practical way to work less and connect more with your family. And it comes down to a simple choice. Are you going to choose to work or are you going to choose to spend time with your family. Now, go make the better choice each day this week.
Workaholic
Ep #5: From Road Warrior to Working From Home Dad, a Tale of Sacrifice and Self-Discipline: Interview with Jay Hatfield
In this episode, we interview Jay Hatfield, a long-time traveling businessman who eventually landed a work-from-home job. He shares the difficulties of connecting while on the road and some of the personal-time sacrifices he’s had to make to make family life work. Jay shares how to be a team-player with home duties, the give and take benefits and flexibility with his employer, and some of the healthy boundaries and ground-rules he’s had to implement as a work-from-home dad. Jay shares some wisdom about the self-discipline required and the key to making it a win-win for his boss. You’ll also learn a few tips on how to create a daily routine to get ready for the work day.
3 Simple Time Management Hacks to Improve Your Productivity
Time is something you can’t ever get back…or can you? Although we might not be able to change the past and how we managed our time yesterday, last week, or last year, it is absolutely something we can manage better now and in the future. And if take proactive steps to manage your time better, you ARE in effect changing your future (past).
Some workaholics work so many hours because they legitimately have so much work only they can do and they just don’t have enough hours in the day to complete them. From my experience however, this is a bunch of BS. If I’m the only person in the world who can do something, I guarantee you I’m just not trying hard enough to get help. Building a team and delegating effectively are essentials to growing as a business leader.
But this post is simply about applying some basic techniques that can help you get some valuable time back. If you are a workaholic or recovering workaholic, and getting the most from your work hours is important to you, then try these three simple time management hacks to improve your productivity.
Time Management Tip Number 1: Block or Ignore Social Media During the Work Day
If you have the willpower, you can just decide to not look at social media except at breaks, lunchtime, or at the end of the day. Or better yet, you can use a simple technique to block notifications from social media, by simply putting your phone or computer in airplane mode or turning off wife/cellular connections when you need to focus and get more work done.
Time Management Tip Number 2: Turn OFF all notifications on your phone or computer
Instead of peaking or responding to every ding, ping, blip, your phone makes, just turn off those notifications. Add something to your calendar that you can feel in control of. Add a calendar entry at 11:45am that says “check social media”. And give yourself 15 minutes to engage and then put it away for the rest of the day. That way, you are empowering yourself to check social media on your own time…not when other people want you to check it.
Time Management Tip Number 3: Get an Accountability Partner
Sometimes, we just need someone to help us. We could all benefit from having someone to checkin from time to time and ask how we are doing at managing our time better. YOU could benefit from knowing someone is going to be asking you some hard questions and expecting honesty in return…”How many times did you check Facebook today?” “How many hours did you work today because you spent 2 hours throughout the day numbing out online?”
Let US help you by being your accountability partner. We can provide many more tips and suggestions and most importantly, we can checkin and help keep you honest about using your working hours productively.
If you’d like us to help you as your accountability partner, just contact us using the form below! We would LOVE to help you!
Ep #4: Recovering Workaholic Dads Manifesto: Are You In?
“In this episode, Brad introduces and explains the Recovering Workaholic Dads Manifesto or core values. What does it mean to be a workaholic dad in recovery? What guiding principles should drive our everyday thinking and actions?
We’re Intensely Focused on Relationships
We’re Passionate about Connecting With Our Kids
We Live Balanced Lives
We Honor Our Vows as Husbands
We Leave a Family Legacy
We Work Efficiently, Effectively, and Productively
We Leave Work at The Office
We Put Family First
We Are Recovering Workaholic Dads!”
How Many Work Hours Per Week Is Normal?
When I talk with folks about how many hours a week they work, I like to get a sense of what is “normal”. The challenge here of course is how do you define “normal”. Normal typically means what MOST people experience.
I think that definition is limited and deceiving in the context of workaholism. For example, if you hang out with a group of guys who regularly drinks a six pack of beer every night, that might be “normal” to you.
If you work in a company where everyone is pulling all-nighters and working every weekend, that might seem “normal” to you based on your experience or the company culture.
However, there is a difference between normal, reasonable, and healthy. So, while working 60+ hours a week on a regular basis might seem normal because everyone around you is doing it, it’s certainly not healthy. Is it reasonable though? Well, that’s completely up to you. If your priorities and values are wrapped up in your salary and title, and you have to work that many hours in return for big bonuses and promotions, then yes, it’s completely reasonable.
But, if you value your wife and kids more than your paycheck, I’d say not only is it not healthy, but it’s also unreasonable to work 60+ hours a week.
It all comes down to your values and priorities. If my company offered me 1 million dollars a year in exchange for 80 hours a week of work, I’d say no thank you. Having 1 million dollars (actually about 600K after taxes) isn’t worth ending up in divorce or separation from my family. I wouldn’t have time for my health, my friends, my family, or anything else in my world that I value just as much if not more than my paycheck. I’d end up with a bag of money, and I’d be standing all by myself at the end of the day…empty and devoid of LIFE. That’s not reasonable, regardless of the amount of money offered. I’d say NO THANK YOU!
So, what about you? What is normal, healthy, and reasonable to you?