EPISODE 023 - Mindset: How can you maintain a healthy work-life balance in IT?

Michael Seidl: Welcome to a new episode of the Get Shit Done in IT podcast. My name is Michael Seidel and my voice is still a little bit touched. excuse me for that. But the topic of the day is how can you maintain a healthy work life balance in IT? And to be honest, that's definitely a topic I postponed for a very long time because it is maybe not the typical... type of episodes we do in that podcast and it might be... Maybe a not very popular opinion from my side. So to be honest, the phrase of work-life balance is definitely something I don't support or I don't think it is good. Because if you say it in a different way, you spend a lot of time in your work or in that part of your life, what you need to do to earn money. Okay, let's call it this way. And if this part of your life is so or makes you so unhappy that you need to separate from everything else, then I think it is not the best choice you made for this. this part. So for my example, and I don't want to tell anyone you need to do overtime or you need to work all around the clock. That's definitely not what I'm supposed to tell you here or trying to tell you here. But in my opinion, if that part of your life makes you a paycheck at the end of the month,

Michael Seidl: is fun for you or makes you happy then it also makes you happy not only between 8 to 5 also in at the other time around so I like more the phrase of, not the phrase of work-life balance, more the phrase of energy balance. So you just need to find what brings you energy and what takes energy and make sure that you always go back to those things what brings you energy. And for my example, so if you don't know, What I do, what we do is, besides automation consulting, so that's nearly the daily life during week, most of the time that we do consulting for our customers, we also sell a product. So I'm also a product owner. I need to define new features, think about whatever. Those things mostly happen on weekends. So now I could say I don't want to think about those things on weekends because that's my private life. But on other hand, just makes fun. Okay. So it makes fun to think about new features, to have new ideas. And maybe, especially on that time where you're doing not your daily business stuff, in our case, consulting, my mind is open to think about those things. So when I have an idea on, on weekend, I sit down or write down, of course, everything, everything related and, and in in contact with my kids and my wife. So they're also not happy when I do all those stuff on whole weekend along. of course everything in balance with my kids and my wife. I have no... It is absolutely fine when I sit down on Sunday evening and think about any new product and new ideas. So that's something that makes fun. But if you have to separate your work from your life, you cannot...

Michael Seidl: those things on weekends. That's what I'm trying to say. If your work or those parts of your life, what brings you money at the end of the month doesn't make you happy on a long term, it might be time to look for something else. That's my hard opinion, or at least my opinion. I and I have some in my near colleagues or environments, I've seen people struggling with burnouts and all those stuff. But to make it true, I'm definitely not very educated or anything. It's just my opinion. But when you think about what really stress you a day or during your week is things you don't like to do, but you have to do. And of course, also in my business, are things you have to do and don't like. It's bookkeeping for me. Yeah. So, and different stuff, but some things are here to do. Definitely. I'm really talking about the long term and the overall of your work time. If it doesn't make you fun or happy, I think there's a lot more of a possibility that you will get into a burnout. Because in my opinion, a burnout is nothing you became or get from too much work. And also it's not only the work, it's also very private stuff. But I think it's not related to too much of work. It's more related, in my opinion, of too much of doing things you don't like to do. You understand? And once again, I'm not very I'm not educated, have no professional background in that. It's just my opinion and what we also see in my new environment. And also what I feel, if I do a very long time stuff I don't want to do, it is hard to keep up the pace. It's hard to have fun. And that's the case when you go in the wrong direction in that way. on a long term...

Michael Seidl: or seen on a long term. If that part in your life, I don't want to call it work, if that part of your life what brings you money at the end of the month doesn't make you happy, doesn't make you happy, doesn't doesn't doesn't make doesn't you doesn't doesn't make happy, doesn't My answer would be go for something else. Okay. So that's my opinion on the work-life balance. What I don't like, as I said, I like more the energy balance and I don't see any problems on working outside of 8 to 9. And no, it's not an argument to have working 24-7 and do not work over hours, everything. But if it makes fun, it doesn't feel like work. And if you do what it makes fun, you will be happy to do it and also outside of the typical 9 to 5 schedule. So as I said, I'm not educated in that stuff, but my opinion and my thing is it is not the amount of work what makes us sick or going into a burnout. It's more... the wrong, doing the wrong stuff on a very long time without changing anything will brings or makes us sick, makes us feeling stressful and on a long term thing brings us into a burnout. So find something you love, change if you don't, if you're not right now doing anything to get money by the end of the month, what you love, then try to change something. So that's now, in this case, a not very typical episode, but I had this very long on my list of episodes. I postponed it, I think, for at least 20 episodes or so. So this was one of the first questions I got. And I was a little bit afraid of that topic, to be honest, but now it's done. And hopefully you understand my idea. And once again, it's not too...

Michael Seidl: bring you into 24-7 working, doing more hours than needed and everything. It's just finding something you love, you're happy to do, and then it's much, much easier what you call your work to do. So, we're now at the end. I wish you a happy week, stay productive, and bye-bye.