Finding a Work/Life Balance

Last night, I was able to participate in the first of a series of webinars through the Iowa Girls Coaches Association that are designed to provide coaches with professional development on topics important to coaches at any level. We recently surveyed all head girls basketball coaches in Iowa to gather information on how we could support they work that they do. One of the biggest concerns from coaches that came out of the survey was finding a work/life balance-certainly an issue for more than just coaches. This seems to be an even bigger concern around the holiday season with activities still going on and coaches and athletes juggling family gatherings, trips, and other activities.

We decided to focus our first webinar on this important topic and worked in cooperation with Scott Garvis, president of the National High School Coaches Association (NHSCA) to put a presentation together that included 8 strategies on maintaining your work/life balance as a coach. Here are the 8 tips-I think these apply to all of us and not just coaches!

1. Accept that there is no true work/life balance. If you follow social media, it may appear that everyone else is doing things perfectly and that you are falling short. Everyone struggles in this area-you are never going to do this perfectly and it will always be a work in progress.

2. Love what you do. You don’t need to love every aspect of your job or even your life. But by loving the people you are around and finding joy in the various aspects, it can make it much easier to balance work and our personal life.

3. Prioritize diet and exercise. Find the time to exercise, again doing something that you love. Be intentional in scheduling time to exercise and what your daily eating habits look like.

4. Unwind and unplug from the outside world. Put the phone away at times, especially when with family and friends. Don’t worry about checking work email outside of work hours. Be where your feet are and focus on the moment and who you are with.

5. Take a vacation-find time away. This doesn’t have to be a two week vacation-it may be a day or even an afternoon. Sometimes even a small break can rejuvenate us and get us back on the right track.

6. Schedule family and friends time. Sometimes we get defined by our job/position. Our family and friends should always be our priority. Be intention with your schedule and make sure it reflects your priorities.

7. Set boundaries with regards to “work” time. Coaches (I was always guilty of this) are notorious for taking things home and working on our activities at home. Do everything you can to get work done at work.

8. Set goals and priorities when putting together your schedule. Implement a time management strategy-figure out priorities and schedule your time accordingly. A good strategy to consider is the Eisenhower matrix. Write down all of the tasks you have on your plate. Think about a square divided up into the following 4 quadrants: 1. urgent and important, 2. not urgent but important, 3. urgent but not important, 4. not urgent and not important. .Place the tasks you have written down into one of those 4 quadrants. Focus on quadrant one activities first. It will help you realize what is important and what can wait.

What strategies do you have to find a work/life balance? For coaches, you would think the holiday season would be an easy time to find balance, but coaches are always looking ahead, planning for the future, and trying to keep up with the competition. It comes down to setting your priorities and being intentional about scheduling your time and your activities.

I hope you will all be intentional about finding plenty of family and friend time over the holiday break along with getting plenty of rest and relaxation. Thanks for reading the newsletter and a very Merry Christmas to you and your family. Have a great week!

Coach K