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Work Life Balance

Mastering Career Balance: A Blueprint for Engineers

November 27, 2023 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

Career BalanceAn unbalanced engineering career can materialize in several ways, and none of us are immune. Whether we experience too much overwhelm or not enough motivation, here are a few ways we can preserve more career balance.

Adjust Your Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivations

We have many motivations for working, which is a great thing! On a high level, we can categorize these motivations as extrinsic and intrinsic.

Extrinsic motivations are driven by things outside of yourself. For example, most of us are motivated to work for money and benefits. Sometimes we’re motivated by new titles or additional respect. These are examples of behaviors fueled by external paybacks or rewards.

It’s a wonderful system; we love getting paid to perform meaningful work that serves the world.

However, there is a danger of implementing too many extrinsic motivations. They can only carry a career so far because emphasis on external paybacks and rewards dismisses its complement—internal paybacks and rewards. How do we generate internal paybacks and rewards? By creating intrinsic motivations.

[Read more…] about Mastering Career Balance: A Blueprint for Engineers

Filed Under: Blog, Work Life Balance Tagged With: Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivations, Find More Career Balance, Gina Covarrubias, Redirect Stressful Self-Talk

The Dance Between Work and Life as an Engineer

July 31, 2023 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Gina Covarrubias

Work and Life

Image by Freepik

Are you caught up in a dance between committing to work and living your life as an engineer? An extreme focus in either direction could leave you jobless or lifeless. Read on if you want to improve your dance moves as an engineer!

Balance or Integration?

While some people like to speak of a work/life balance, others prefer work/life integration. What is the difference, and why is this worth addressing?

On the surface, they refer to the same idea — which is to overcommit to one area at the expense of the other.

The phrase work/life balance may feel more reasonable if you’re the kind of person who tends to compartmentalize aspects of your life. For example, you may prefer a distinct separation between work tasks and personal life. Or, maybe your preference is that work friends should remain at work and you’d rather not mingle with them otherwise. If you compartmentalize, you might struggle to think about integrating the two aspects; it might feel more like suffocation.

On the other hand, work/life integration could be a desirable term if you prefer to weave both work and personal duties together. Like making personal calls during work breaks. Or perhaps you enjoy making the introduction of family members to your colleagues during a Zoom call.

There is no right or wrong phrase. You get to choose which one feels most comfortable based on personality and lifestyle. So do not fret if others have a different preference!

[Read more…] about The Dance Between Work and Life as an Engineer

Filed Under: Blog, Work Life Balance Tagged With: Committing to work and living your life, Gina Covarrubias, Take care of yourself, Work and Life as an Engineer

How Being a Mom Made Me a Better Engineer and Being an Engineer Made Me a Better Mom

July 17, 2023 By EMI

This is a guest post by Julie Lutsky, P.E.

engineer mom

Image from Freepik

Balancing life between being a mom and a full-time engineer has its challenges, but with the right preparation, organization, communication, and coordination, I can have it all. Early in my career, being a structural engineer defined me in many ways, and much of my time and energy was devoted to my professional development. I naively set a goal to “master” — or at least not be a trainee — in my profession prior to having children, thinking this would make it easier once I became a working mother.

However, as a goal, this was not attainable. Continual professional development is one of the keys to a successful career, and you don’t know what you don’t know about being a new parent. I can confidently say that being a structural engineer has made me a better mom, while at the same time, being a mom has made me a better structural engineer.

engineer mom

[Read more…] about How Being a Mom Made Me a Better Engineer and Being an Engineer Made Me a Better Mom

Filed Under: Blog, Work Life Balance Tagged With: Being a Mom Made Me a Better Engineer, Being an Engineer Made Me a Better Mom, Julie Lutsky, Work Life Balance

Unlocking Work-Life Integration: 3 Tips for Engineers to Thrive

July 10, 2023 By EMI

This is a guest post by Tiffani Teachey

work-life integration

Image by Freepik

“You can have it all. You just can’t have it all at once.” ~ Oprah Winfrey

As engineers, our professional lives often demand our utmost attention and commitment. However, it’s equally important to maintain a healthy work-life integration to avoid burnout and ensure overall well-being. Work-life integration is a concept that encourages blending work and personal life harmoniously. In this blog post, we’ll explore three essential tips to help engineers achieve successful work-life integration.

1. Establish Clear Boundaries

One of the key aspects of work-life integration is setting clear boundaries between work and personal life. It’s crucial to define specific time frames for work-related activities and personal commitments. Consider creating a schedule that accommodates your work tasks while allowing time for leisure, family, and self-care. Communicate these boundaries with your colleagues and superiors, ensuring they understand and respect your personal time. By maintaining clear boundaries, you’ll be able to stay focused during work hours and fully engage in personal activities, leading to improved productivity and well-being.

work-life integration

[Read more…] about Unlocking Work-Life Integration: 3 Tips for Engineers to Thrive

Filed Under: Blog, Work Life Balance Tagged With: 3 Tips for Engineers to Thrive, Leverage Technology and Automation, Tiffani Teachey, Unlocking Work-Life Integration

The Challenges of Achieving Work-Life Balance as a Maintenance Engineers

July 5, 2021 By EMI

This is a guest blog by Bryan Christiansen

The Challenges of Achieving Work-Life Balance as a Maintenance EngineersFinding an equilibrium between our professional and personal lives is a vital ingredient for boosting productivity and improving our physical, mental, and emotional well-being. Behind the elegant facilities and seamless production processes are maintenance engineers who guarantee the reliable and safe operation of equipment. They perform their duties under strict regulations and deadlines.

I ask myself: Are maintenance engineers happy? How do they balance the high levels of stress, frequent burnouts, and personal satisfaction? Here are some of the things that affect the work-life equilibrium and practical solutions to them.

1.  Highly Demanding Responsibilities

[Read more…] about The Challenges of Achieving Work-Life Balance as a Maintenance Engineers

Filed Under: Blog, Work Life Balance Tagged With: Achieving Work-Life Balance, boosting productivity, Bryan Christiansen, combat work-related challenges, Family Responsibilities, Finding an equilibrium, frequent burnouts, Global Competition, global competition and technology, high levels of stress, Highly Demanding Responsibilities, imbalanced payment, Maintenance Engineer, maintenance engineers, Payment and Living Expenses, personal satisfaction, safe operation of equipment, strict regulations and deadlines, work-life balance, work-life equilibrium

Your Life Is A Program, So Manage It Like One

June 27, 2016 By EMI

BalanceAfter a decade-plus of leading and managing programs, there’s one thing I don’t recall ever saying – or hearing someone else say: “gee, I need to find balance in my projects.”  I didn’t philosophically, or physically, sit down to figure out how to balance my time, my focus, and my energy between the various projects I was running.

Why?  Because that’s not how someone manages a program.  You collect key information components about the program’s elements, such as cost, schedule, and scope, and then you execute.  That might mean a lot of work in some periods of the year, a little less at other times.  You delegate less important tasks to others and look for efficiencies to optimize schedule and keep on budget.

If ever I did fret about balance between projects in my portfolio, it was because of one of them going off schedule or budget.  Or maybe because of the contractor executing the project or some other stakeholder that was creating friction.

[Read more…] about Your Life Is A Program, So Manage It Like One

Filed Under: Blog, Work Life Balance Tagged With: Christian Knutson, life, Program Management, Work Life Balance

5 Ways to Protect Yourself from Other People’s Stress

March 21, 2016 By EMI

stress

It’s a fact for every engineer, in either an academic or professional setting, that stress will be present.  Because this is the case, you can either view it as a horrific pollutant or accept it as fact and design a way to mitigate or absorb it.  I suggest the later approach.  Remove any negative or positive connotation around stress and let’s develop a way to manage it effectively in our engineering career.

Designing and utilizing a system for how you will handle both self-inflicted and external stressors is essential.  It’s going to be a main determinant in your ability to advance professionally and it’s going to play a key component in how fulfilled and happy you are with life in general.

Professionally, advancement goes to those who have the ability to manage increasing levels and complexity of responsibility.  With responsibility comes stress:  finding new business opportunities, making payroll, handling personnel problems, fulfilling expectations of demanding clients.  If you do not have a means for effectively mitigating or absorbing stress, then the further you move along the professional advancement trajectory, the more likely it is that you’ll eventually hit a brick wall that will result in unintended consequences.  What do these look like?  Negative attitude; curt and unprofessional responses to colleagues and clients; and generally being cancerous in communicating and working with teams or subordinates.

TBStress

[Read more…] about 5 Ways to Protect Yourself from Other People’s Stress

Filed Under: Blog, Work Life Balance Tagged With: happiness, lifestyle design, stress, work overload, work-life balance

This Year Has Taught Me to Be Thankful for One Thing: Time

November 26, 2014 By EMI

Anthony with Juree

Thanksgiving is a special day, and while I believe we should be thankful for what we have every day, I still like that this day really reinforces gratitude among us.

This for me was an especially gratifying year that taught me something very important.

My daughter and I wrote the first 2 books in a children’s book series, that we have created with a charitable component. [Read more…] about This Year Has Taught Me to Be Thankful for One Thing: Time

Filed Under: Work Life Balance Tagged With: thanksgiving

Keeping Your Body (and Mind) in Shape will contribute to Engineering Career Success – Engineer Your Own Success Book Excerpt

September 2, 2014 By EMI

Engineer Your Own Success: Body (and Mind) in Shape

My book Engineer Your Own Success has been picked up by IEEE-Wiley Press and we will be publishing an Updated and Expanded Edition in the Fall of 2014.  I have a lot of new information to this edition including an entirely new chapter entitled: Stay Focused, Organized, Productive, and Stress-Free.  The following is an excerpt from this chapter.  If you are on my mailing list, you will receive a heavy discount on the book once it is available.

Most people today have so much going on in their careers and lives, they often don’t have or make the time for exercise. Before I had kids, I used to go to the gym every morning before work. Now with three kids and my own business, the gym is a distant memory. However, I recently made a change in my life where I have incorporated practices to exercise both physically and mentally. This change has had a very positive impact on my life, especially with respect to stress reduction. I am in no way trying to push my practices upon you. In fact it’s imperative that you establish exercise routines that work for you. But I hope, at a minimum, this section provides you with inspiration to do so. [Read more…] about Keeping Your Body (and Mind) in Shape will contribute to Engineering Career Success – Engineer Your Own Success Book Excerpt

Filed Under: Personal Development and Professionalism, Work Life Balance Tagged With: engineer your own success book, engineering career development

The Answer to Work-Life Balance: Don’t Try

May 23, 2013 By EMI

The issue of work-life balance is something relatively new to humanity.  Brought to light by British anthropologists in the late 1970’s, we now have libraries full of self-help books and courses in how best to solve this affliction of modern life.  I struggled with finding the best way to thread the needle myself as the responsibilities of my professional and personal lives increased.  New positions at work brought more commitments and growing a family brought an equal amount of commitments.  Add to this a wife who has had led an equally taxing professional/personal life and solution set for work-life balance seemed out of reach.  Then it dawned on me. 

The answer to work-life balance: don’t try. [Read more…] about The Answer to Work-Life Balance: Don’t Try

Filed Under: Work Life Balance Tagged With: Success

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