We hear it all the time…everyone is striving to achieve work life balance. But what does that really mean? Finding time for yourself? Making your personal life easier? More convenient? Spending more time with family? Creating more time for hobbies or friends?
It can be all of those things and more. When you really think about “life”, we have access to all the latest tools to create a balanced environment. Whether we chose to use it or not, today’s technology makes it easier than ever to simplify and balance our day to day responsibilities:
- Out of toilet paper and diapers…Amazon Prime…at your door in 2 days! No cash, no personal interaction, just a click of a mouse and BOOM!
- Hungry with an empty refrigerator…Uber Eats to the rescue! Order on your mobile device and delivered to your door in just a few minutes! No cash, no personal interaction (except the handoff from the driver), just a smart phone and an index finger!
- 1 open spot, but you must parallel park…Turn on your park assist and let go of the wheel!
I’m sure you’ve taken advantage of today’s technology tools that have made your personal life easier, more efficient and ultimately more productive, right? So, what holds us back from utilizing these same advanced technology tools to make the “work” part more balanced? So often we are still using slow, manual methods and playing the inefficient waiting game. We wait for others to get back to us or for a co-work to make a decision so we can move on to the next step in the process. Ultimately leading to delays, frustrations and mistakes.
Sure, the old way of doing things still works, but being open to a new way can potentially revolutionize our work-life in the same way that Hello Fresh food service or grocery store delivery can impact our personal life. Software tools give you the ability to collaborate, provide insight into process steps and enable more timely decisions so that tasks are executed more efficiently and accurately. You no longer need to sit at your desk and wait for a call or documents to be received. A file doesn’t have to sit on your coworker’s desk for weeks and you don’t have to waste hours going through boxes of old files looking for that one document the boss needs.
Using the right technology in your work environment truly maximizes the eight hour work day and increases the productivity of each member of the team. The result is a higher quality of work and an improved quality of life. Achieving the work life balance ultimately leads to greater employee satisfaction and we all know that Happy employees = Improved productivity and a win-win for all sides.
