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Work-life
Balance possible? Sounds like a trapeze act. For most part of the day, working
professionals spend more time at office. That 8+8+8 doesn’t really work out as
it is difficult to apportion 8 hours to sleep, 8 hours to work and 8 hours family,
friends and folks. In the present times,
it is simply unimaginable. So, forget working it out.
What matters most? work or life? Some state “family first”, while some “I want to make money”, and others quip “I want to learn more and move soon up the ladder.” Priorities differ from person to person. There is no question that present times are very demanding and challenging that many professionals, especially, in IT, scratch their head and tear their hair apart in time management. Don’t get surprised to hear like “I wake up before the kids and return when they are fast asleep at night.” From lament, it has become an accustomed line often heard in the corridors or the coffee-dispenser.
Usually,
task assignment is done after consulting the concerned professional about the
time estimation. Now if you can complete the work in the estimated time, you
are meeting expectations. If you complete ahead, then you exceed expectation. In
case, you lag behind, you are below expectation. Thats the norm.
Are we working to our optimum potential? Some days, yes. But,
consistently? The total output in a day’s work doesn’t really justify your true
potential. Our productivity is only as much, because as the day wears out so
does our energy and focus.
A proper time estimation will never utilize more
than 8 hours in a day, if not, it’s not a proper estimation. well, then the onus is
on the professional to whom the work is assigned, to complete it in 8 hours. Why
then the delay? Though some are genuine like a minor bug unexpectedly burning hours to fix resulting in delay which sometimes shocks the developer and the project plan, one cannot dismiss the tendency to procrastinate due to confidence or complacency. "I will do after lunch or after a break or .." postponing is the most poorest and pathetic way of functioning by a professional, and we all will be guilty of committing this cardinal sin at some point in time. To a Project Manager, that exposes a chink in the armor, and thats why they moniotor closely not just the delay but the reasons behind the delay. A season project manager will attest no project plan will run as scheduled and if it is on course, then there is something wrong somewhere.'Slippage' is expected but not for reasons hat can be avoided or anticipated. Project manager, in fact, get the jitters to note that everything is proceeding as per plan that check and double-check. No project completes as planned and slippage is expected and accepted, only the time of delay is contested.
That said, You can do your 8-hour stint at office and get home to
attend on your personal matters. But why are you stretching hours at the office? Because concentration is compromised. And we
end up burning more hours and eventually burn out. We might blame people, place and process, but
self-admission will shift some of the blame on ourselves as well. Actually, we
bite into a lot of hours meant for family by simply procrastinating. Delay! That’s
a difficult word to digest. A flight delayed or a train delayed or anything
that has to run on time gets delayed makes you restless. What happens when your
deliverables are delayed? What happens when you are holed up at office at an
hour meant to be with family? Who is to be blamed?
Think about it.
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