#WomenDisruptors: Lessons in juggling time

With the dissolving of international timelines, a 24x7 connected world, punishing deadlines at work, achieving a healthy work-life balance has become the first casualty. There is an increasing pressure to be always “switched on”. According to the annual survey on Vacation Deprivation 2018 by travel firm Expedia, at 75 per cent, Indians are the most vacation deprived in the world, with 41 per cent of the Indians surveyed admitting that they had not taken a vacation in the past six months as they could not get time off work. 

For women professionals, achieving successful work-life balance becomes even more challenging as they have to face the regular work pressures that their male counterparts face, along with taking on the responsibilities of managing their homes and families additionally. 

Today’s organisations are increasingly taking into cognizance the importance of providing an enabling work culture for their women work force. Various studies have affirmed the impact on the work productivity of women when faced with the twin demands of work and managing their homes. With women increasingly breaking through glass ceilings to take up leadership roles, there is growing emphasis on eliminating patriarchal mindsets and providing an environment that is conducive for women leaders to reach their full potential. 

And all this begins with bringing in a successful work-life balance. Adgully spoke to a cross-section of women industry experts to know how they bring in that elusive balance and successfully break barriers at work.  

The art of juggling time

Raji Ramaswamy
Raji Ramaswamy

Contract India CEO Raji Ramaswamy’s view is that work and life are not so compartmentalised. According to her, both are important aspects in one’s hectic time strapped lives and one needs to enjoy both in equal measure. 

Priyanka Rishi
Priyanka Rishi

Priyanka Rishi, General Manager & Executive Vice President, BBDO India, Mumbai, too, doesn’t make separate distinction between work and life, but rather views it as work-life ‘integration’.

Ajeeta Bharadwaj
Ajeeta Bharadwaj

“I think that the trick is in the word ‘balance’, because you need to do justice both to your professional goals and your personal goals. Personal life doesn’t come with deadlines, so it is usually the one to get on the back burner, but frankly even if it were the other way round and professional goals were to be deprioritised, most people would still not be happy. So for me, work-life balance is about waking up in the morning, feeling good about work and feeling good about life,” says Ajeeta Bharadwaj, National Planning Director, Wunderman Thompson India.

Sonali Malaviya
Sonali Malaviya

On the other hand, for Sonali Malaviya, Vice President, Client Partner, India at Essence, work-life ‘balance’ has always struck a discordant note. Elaborating on this, she says, “I used to believe in work-life integration, until I realised it is all ‘life’, and work is a seamless part of it, at least for me. The minute they are segregated, it becomes asynchronous and almost like living two parallel lives – which I probably wouldn’t do very well at. Work gives me happiness. And therefore, seamless fluidity makes sense.”

Aruna Jathar
Aruna Jathar

Aruna Jathar, Director - Marketing, RCI India, believes that work-life balance is the state of equilibrium in which demands on personal life, professional life, and family life are equal. It differs from individual to individual as it is based on one’s career stage and their personal life stage.

Arunima Singh
Arunima Singh

For Arunima Singh, Executive Vice- President, Social Beat, the balance means successfully managing all the responsibilities, both in office and at home efficiently. “For me, work life balance is to achieve complete satisfaction and perform your best in office and have time to recuperate and enjoy your own interests with your family and friends,” she adds.

Kavita Viswanath
Kavita Viswanath

In the digital world, work and personal life are overlapping concepts. There is no more work-life balance, but it’s more about freeing your mind and creating that personal time within your day to do things that helps you enjoy life, believes Kavita Viswanath, GM, JFrog in India.

Monica Pereira
Monica Pereira

Monica Pereira, Partner - HR Development & Administration, BC Web Wise, acknowledges the fact that it has never been easy for women to juggle between a thriving career and a happy family life. “Being a full time working professional comes with a lot of guilt for not spending equal time at work or with family,” she admits. At the same time, today, women from all walks of life are choosing to have it all – dedicated and focused time at work, quality time with family and sometimes for self.

Pooja Bhasin
Pooja Bhasin

More than achieving a perfect balance in one’s day to day life, Pooja Bhasin, Senior Director - HR & Finance, Ticketmaster, India, believes, “Work-life balance is about knowing where you are needed most and at what time that will require and while giving it that time, you ensure you give your 100 per cent.” 

Living in the moment 

When it comes to achieving that elusive work-life balance, each of the experts that we spoke to had their own method. But a few common points emerged – such as stressing on quality over quantity, effective time management, planning, prioritisation, having a strong support system at work and at home, flexibility, cultivating interests and passion beyond one’s work. 

Yoga, meditation, working out, vacations, adventure sports and community service are some of the stress busters that work for our women leaders.

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