Work-life balance for women in IT

00:00 Hi there. I’m Dr. Lise Hautzinger-Forrest. 00:02 I’m a faculty member with the University of Phoenix 00:04 in the School of Business and 00:05 IT. And I’m here today to give you some 00:08 tips on how to balance work and life as 00:10 you move through your IT career. 00:12 This is The Framework. 00:17 You need to find ways to organize 00:19 different aspects of life in order to 00:21 use time wisely. Another thing that I 00:24 found that was extremely important was 00:26 being able to focus at work when I was 00:28 at work, but then have a break from 00:30 work. So, not be on call 24/7. You need 00:33 the time to be able to rejuvenate 00:34 yourself. 00:36 The other part of it has to do with 00:38 having real expectations as to what you 00:40 can and cannot do and giving me that 00:42 flexibility of knowing I’ve got extra 00:44 time, so I am not feeling so stressed by 00:46 not getting something done. I finally 00:48 realized that I just needed to be able 00:50 to embrace flexibility as much as 00:51 possible. When I would have a sick child 00:53 at home, being able to know that I had a 00:55 second option for child care if I needed 00:58 to be at work. 01:00 Whatever is your personality, it’s 01:02 important to understand so that you can 01:04 then set up things to work for you. If 01:06 you are someone who is extremely rigid 01:08 in your thinking, you’ve got your time 01:09 set up and you’re like clockwork. 01:11 You want to do things a certain way. 01:13 That’s important to know. If you’re 01:14 someone who needs to be able to visit 01:16 with people a little bit to kind of warm 01:18 up to the work environment, it’s 01:19 important to realize what your time 01:22 availability is and prioritize your 01:24 work. It’s important for you to have 01:26 your supervisor understand how much time 01:28 it’s going to take to complete a task, 01:30 if you are encountering any obstacles, 01:32 and then have your boss help you 01:34 eliminate those obstacles. 01:38 Are you still passionate about the work 01:40 you are doing? It is so important to 01:42 feel good about what you’re doing. 01:44 Passion oftentimes has to do with 01:46 feeling as if you are doing a job that 01:47 has a higher purpose to it rather than 01:49 just the work tasks themselves. Having that 01:52 passion helps you get over those 01:53 day-to-day little kinds of difficulties 01:55 that might come up. 01:57 Finding a mentor. This mentor can be 01:59 male or female, but someone who can 02:01 help you navigate the corporate 02:02 culture and the IT environment. Another 02:05 thing that’s important is to stay 02:06 relevant. This is learning new 02:08 technology skills, obtaining new 02:10 certifications, expanding on soft skills 02:12 such as listening well and critical 02:14 thinking. Thanks for joining me. I’m Dr. 02:17 Lise Hautzinger-Forrest, and this has been The 02:19 Framework, presented by University of 02:21 Phoenix. Let us know in the comments if 02:23 this video was helpful to you, and hit 02:25 that subscribe button if you’d like to 02:26 stay in the know on topics ranging from 02:28 education and careers.