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2024 Mentoring 2024 Member Only Happy Hour

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2024 Mentoring 2024 Member Only Happy Hour

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Dispelling the Myth of Work-Life Balance

By Jennifer Zoga, Executive Director

 

In our Mentoring 2024 Member Only Happy Hour this week, PWC Philadelphia members discussed how professional women strive to juggle all our responsibilities.

One of our panelists, Lynn Everhart articulated about the fallacy of “work-life balance.”

Lynn dislikes the term “work-life balance.” She explained that seeking balance is like seeking perfection. It leads to the inevitable feeling of being impossible to achieve. Many women on our panel and in our audience agreed. They feel drained by worrying about work at home and worrying about home at work. Thus, they can feel like they are falling short on both.

Lynn recommended that we stop assuming that we can use our energy consistently in our roles at work, with family, and for ourselves. Sometimes priorities demand imbalance.

If we recognize that our lives have a natural ebb and flow, we can be more forgiving to the give and take we have to juggle. Lynn recommends that we work on well-being practices that give ourselves grace for the fluid (and sometimes chaotic) nature of life. We often have to trade focus to care for our work in the important silos of our lives: work, family, self, etc.
Lynn Everhart is a Principal at DEDC Engineering, where she leads the national practice, overseeing offices in Philadelphia, Tampa, Houston, and Raleigh. She is also the host of the LeadHerShift Podcast, discussing new paradigm ways of working with interviews and solocasts focused on intuitive approaches where conscious leadership meets your higher self. 

Embracing Your Ebb and Flow Mentality

To “live in the moment” doesn't mean ignoring the feeling that we are unfinished in other important areas/priorities in our lives. It means offering ourselves grace to be unsettled. Give yourself permission to choose your intuitive priorities. Stop trying to be perfect everywhere at all time.

Do this…

  • Recognize your emotions.
  • Trust your intuition about how to sort your priorities.
  • Ask for what you need.
  • Be transparent and honest when you need to reset expectations and deadlines.

Prioritizing Self-Care and Well-Being

The flight attendant always reminds us to place the oxygen mask on ourselves first before assisting other passengers. Self-care is just that.

Do this…

  • Make time to move and/or meditation each day. 10 minutes can go a long way to help you quiet your frazzled thoughts and hear your intuitive priorities.
  • Drink water and get sleep. Often these are the first basic needs to go when we are stressed or burning out but the most important needs to fulfill to get us back on track.

Setting Boundaries and Managing Expectations

Boundaries are what allow us to show respect and care for each other and for ourselves. Women are notorious for allowing others to erode our boundaries. We take the blame for falling short and we pile more on our plate in reactionary fashion. Oftentimes, we need to take a step back to focus on the bigger picture before we can make improvements.

Do this…

  • Ask yourself what you should say “no” to in your life so you can say “yes” to something that gives you well-being?
  • Use technology to reinforce boundaries: Turn off after-hour notifications. Set emails to be delivered during business hours.

Prioritize Befriending Yourself

Many of us have a gratitude journal, but have you considered a self-appreciation journal?

Do this…

Practical Tips for Giving Ourselves Grace in our Work/Life Imbalances

There can be harmony in the noise of life. If we give ourselves time to recognize patterns in the chaos, we can sometimes relax a little.

Not always though… Sometimes a great pair of noise cancelling headphones works wonders!

But always, having the right people on your team helps. We can be thankful that PWC Philadelphia members are here for one another.

Do this…

  • Find a mentor and show up
  • Find a mentee and give back by sharing your imperfections
  • Forgive yourself for mistakes and celebrate your daily wins
  • Trust your intuition

 

 

Next Steps

If you are interested in finding a mentor or mentee through PWC Philadelphia, please complete the following form: https://forms.gle/8NMmT3su4MCU5RDt7

 

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