Worldwide, workers value a healthy relationship with their jobs. An overwhelming majority, 93% say work-life balance is a high priority, according to a January 2024 study of 27,000 workers around the world by temp and staffing agency Randstad.
Depending on your job and home life, some people might find that even keel hard to find.
“I don’t like the word ‘balance,'” former Revlon CEO Debbie Perelman told networking platform Luminary CEO Cate Luzio during the Luminary Women’s History Month Summit. Perelman served as CEO between 2018 and 2023. Today, she advises other businesses in how to find success. Outside of her work life, Perelman is married and the mother of four kids.
“There is never a balance,” she said.
There are, however, ways to alleviate the pressure of so much to do. Here are two tactics that have helped her focus and get through the day.
‘There are lots of balls in the air’
First, try to prioritize.
“There are lots of balls in the air,” Perelman said. “Some are glass. Some are rubber.” The glass balls are the ones you want to focus on the most because if they break, you have the most to lose. The rubber balls are the ones that won’t necessarily get damaged. Those are the tasks you can put off a little longer if you need to.
Luzio herself has a daily list of to-dos. Within that list, she knows which are the glass balls and which are the rubber. Often, the least important tasks are at the bottom of her list.
Other CEOs have their own methods of prioritization. Time etc CEO Barnaby Lashbrooke uses the Eisenhower Matrix, for example. It’s a four-quadrant graphic in which each section represents a level of urgency. He fills it out to decide which of his tasks really is the most critical to complete for the day.
‘You’re going to need people to step in’
Perelman also recommended leaders lean on their teams by asking for help.
When it comes to those rubber balls on your list, see if you can delegate some of those tasks.
Luzio gave the example of planning the Luminary Women’s History Month Summit itself. A day before the event, she cut out of the office midday and let her team handle the rest of planning. She wanted to give them the freedom and autonomy to prepare as they saw fit.
Other experts, like Jennifer Dulski, CEO of Rising Team, which sells various work platforms, suggest giving your reports autonomy to make most of the decisions in their work lives by following the 90/10 rule: They make 90% of the decisions required to get their jobs done, you make 10%.
“Not only do people perform better when they feel trusted and supported, they also respect and trust their leaders more too,” Dulski previously told Make It.
“You’re going to need people to step in,” Perelman said, adding that “if you don’t, it becomes almost impossible and extremely lonely” to try to do your job.
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