A few weeks ago I had Tamara McCleary on the show and her thoughts on achieving an ideal work / life balance have stuck with me ever since. In her RelationSHIFT courses, Tamara teaches to love your family through your work, instead of working hard so you can better love your family. RelationSHIFT also teaches that if we want to find our true passion, we have to put passion into the work we have now. So whether you’re in the dream job or not, you can still honor your life inside whatever office you work in through your energy, inspiration, and creativity on a day-to-day basis.
Discussing how to bring your best self to work everyday on ‘Dot Complicated with Randi Zuckerberg’ was Erica Keswin, founder of O.P.R. Consulting, and Genevieve Pitturo, the founder of the Pajama Program. Here’s their thoughts:
“Pajama Program celebrates its 15th year and it all started without a plan.”
“I wanted to be a single woman in the corporate world. I thought I had everything I wanted. I was shocked when something inside me said I missed something.”
“I thought I could integrate children into my life so I volunteered reading to children in shelters.”
“One night I watched where the staff was taking the kids to sleep. There were no stories, no pajamas.”
“While I was giving out pjs, this little girl asked me, “What are they?” She didn’t know what pajamas were.”
“I am big fan of writing letters, notes, and cards. I love getting mail.”
“It took us 13 years to reach 2 million people. Our wait list grew and grew. We knew we had to make something happen.”
“We set a goal to bring 1 million pajamas and 1 million books to kids and we just met it!”
“We developed the Bill of Goodnight Rights for what kids deserve at night.”
“It’s okay if you’re afraid, it’s not a reason not to ask for something.”
“Make sure there’s some common ground when sussing out investors. It’s relationship building.”
“You want people with you who want the same goal.”
“The combined moment of the little girl who refused to take the pjs and asking what they were to the next day at my job and making a mess. I couldn’t write. I knew I needed change.”
“I physically and emotionally knew that my job was wrong.”
“So many people are looking for their purpose. I was 38 and still struggling.”
“You have to recognize it and do something when you know something is missing in your life. You can’t gloss over it.”
“My husband teaches meditation so it was easy for him to tell me about it, but hard to do.”
“Ask to find what you’re supposed to do. Things pop into your mind when you’re quiet.”
“When you put aside time to quiet your mind you will find yourself in a new place.”
“I try to find a way to take a day off.”
“There’s pros and cons of trying to reach different people.”
“For women, tampons are not a luxury item. It’s not in the same category as Rogaine.”
“When it comes to technology we have to have the desire and discipline to let it go for awhile.”
“I’ve worked in consulting, helping companies improve their performance through their people.”
“The biggest question is how do we manage technology in the workplace?”
“Never Caught Up is geared to women. They are saying there’s no more work/life balance, it’s integration.”
“We’re never going to be caught up. We need to come up with prescriptions to manage time, relationships, yourself.”
“As women, at different parts at different times in our life we want to lean in or lean out.”
“I loved working but I wanted to find a job where I could disconnect at different times.”
“What makes me feel hopeful is the many different mediums to communicate. The flexibility matches the medium to the message.”
“Email might be the best way to communicate given a certain situation. But not always.”
“I realized I could take my interest in tech and use it to help improve conversation.”
“I’m so happy I’m doing something that I’m passionate about.”
“There’s a whole group of companies telling their employees that at night they’re shutting down their servers. Go home. Be with your family.”
“A woman at a company told us that when she gets home she’s with her kids. She’s not checking her phone.”
“It has to be a human that’s putting on the tech limits.”
“I tell my kids if they’re multitasking and not creating a space to work. They’re degrading their work.”
“There was a study done with 19,000 people, only 30% of managers were modeling sustainable work practices.”
“A high-profile exec had an out-of-office email set up saying she was at her child’s apple picking party. It gave women permission to follow suit.”
“Data shows women and men start off at equal places. Women drop off when they want increased flexibility.”
“If you want a diverse workforce you can’t have one way of working.”
“We need to agree that women will never fully be caught up.”
“We get inundated with emails when we’re away. Find strategies to manage your time.”
“Relationships are so important to women. Chemicals are released when we hang out together.”
“It’s important for parents to let this kids use their technology so they know how it works.”
Subscribe to the Dot Complicated newsletter and receive a monthly update containing our latest blog posts, events, and more so you can stay informed on digital solutions and tech trends without getting overwhelmed. 