I don’t get it.Work Life Balance Cartoon

One of the assumptions of the industrial revolution is that as we automated more tasks, people would have more leisure time. Then why am I feeling like I have less time to get my work done and no time to get anything else done? I have 24/7 access to email, the phone, and the internet. I can work anywhere, any time.

Am I out of balance? Or is my appetite too big? This seems to be an American (U.S.) phenomena. Europeans don’t have it. But none of my American clients have enough time to get everything done that needs to be done in a day.

So what’s the scoop?

A friend from Denmark explained it to me. “You Americans,” he said, “seem to live for work. In Europe we work to live.”

Self-definition:  You are what you work at.

While in sales, I made an interesting discovery about myself. I was responsible for sales in 27 markets covering thirteen states. I prioritized the markets and developed a schedule — a sales plan. Knowing it takes seven to nine sales calls to make a sale, I plotted all of this activity on a calendar. Only able to visit one or two markets a week, I realized I needed more than 120 weeks in a year to execute my sales plan. My appetite was too big.

I dialed my sales plan back to something more realistic and sales doubled within 18 months.

What are you working at?

Are you out of balance?

Or is your appetite too big?

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