Purpose-driven leaders sometimes feel that they are failing if they take time from their work to look after themselves. But, as the saying goes, you are not required to set yourself on fire to keep other people warm. If we burn up all our energy, we get to the point of burnout1 and then we’re no use to anybody. Looking after ourselves isn’t a failure, rather it’s a route to success, making it more likely that we will in a good state to deliver on our mission.
There’s a saying ‘Find a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.’ As someone who loves my job I can really relate to that. Enjoying my work and knowing that every person I help will be using that help to do something positive in the world is a great feeling. There’s no ‘clock watching’ when the work is so absorbing and rewarding.
But there’s potential downside to loving ones job and feeling passionate about its outcomes. However enjoyable and rewarding our work, we need to make space for the other things that are important in life.
Workers who choose the non-profit sphere are often working towards a cause close to their heart, share values with the organisation they work for and so put a lot of themselves into their work. Needs are high and resources tight, day-to-day workloads combined with the constant plan ahead can lead to long hours. And because of the commitment to the cause, there’s often a significant emotional element to the work.
On the upside, loving our non-profit jobs can bring the high level of job satisfaction in the sector that’s seen in many surveys. On the downside, when alignment between our personal and professional values and goals is too close, it can be difficult to make boundaries between our work and our downtime.
Does downtime matter, if we’re doing what we love? I would argue that it really does. It matters for us as individuals and as professionals:
- Making space for downtime is good for our mental and physical health and for our personal relationships.
- Making space for downtime makes us better able to do our work really well. There’s a proven connection between work-life balance practices and employee engagement; and a proven connection between employee engagement and productivity.
As passionate as we are about our work, it doesn’t give us everything that we need to be happy, healthy and productive. In his bestselling book ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’, Stephen Covey wrote about the principle of ‘balanced self-renewal’ – paying attention to renew the physical, mental, spiritual and social/emotional dimensions of our nature, regularly and consistently. Another framework that I find helpful is Five Ways to Wellbeing2: connect, be active, keep learning, give and take notice. I find it useful tool for thinking about what work does and doesn’t give me. If you work in a non-profit, you’re quite likely to be doing lots of giving to others already – so it might be helpful to boost something you are doing less of. My work gives me loads of opportunity to build meaningful connections with other people and to learn new things. But work provides me with less opportunity for physical activity. So that’s something I’m conscious to build into my downtime in a regular way. For me, this means blocking out time in my diary to get out and walk every morning. What works for you may be different.
Getting started:
Here’s a simple activity that you can do, to plan your next step to work life balance.
First, rank the Five Ways to Wellbeing, from 1= the one you get most from your job to 5= the one you get least from your job:
| Rank | Five Ways to Wellbeing |
| Connect with other people | |
| Be physically active | |
| Learn new skills | |
| Give to others | |
| Pay attention to the present moment (mindfulness) |
Now, highlight the ones that you have ranked 4 and 5.
Visit this page from the NHS Read about the ones that you have ranked numbers 4 and 5. Look at the examples of the things you could try. Choose just one thing that you could most easily try and might realistically be able to build into your routine. Then do it!
This exercise isn’t about aiming for a total lifestyle transformation. Attempting a radical work-life balance overhaul is less likely to be sustainable than starting with a small positive change and gradually building up.
Looking for support with work-life balance? I can help. Book a free 30-minute discovery call, to explore the difference that coaching can make for you. Find out more about coaching
Notes
- The charity Mental Health UK describes burnout as s a state of physical and emotional exhaustion that can occur when someone experiences long-term stress in their job, or when they have worked in a physically or emotionally draining role for a long time.
- An evidence-based framework developed by the New Economics Foundation. Read about the Five Ways to Wellbeing here: https://www.mind.org.uk/workplace/mental-health-at-work/five-ways-to-wellbeing/
