Five to Thrive 10/14/2019

UMD’s Thriving Workplace Initiative is making the University of Maryland a great place to work by providing tools and support to foster engaged, inclusive and empowered faculty and staff across campus. 

Each Monday, its Five to Thrive list offers five strategies crowdsourced from research, experts and our own UMD community to help your workplace thrive.

This week, TWI tackles work-life balance. Having a healthy balance is integral to engagement, productivity and positivity in the workplace. Here are some tips for fostering that balance for you and your team: 

• If you hold a leadership position, set an example. Minimize off-hours emailing, leave the office at a reasonable time and talk about outside interests with your colleagues. 
• Play to your productivity strengths. If you’re a morning person, tackle the assignments that require your best thinking in the morning. If you’re easily distracted in your office environment, consider taking assignments that require total concentration to a library or other quiet space.
• Learn to say no. While it’s not always an option, declining certain requests will help you focus on priorities at work and home. If you’re a supervisor, know your team members’ workloads; your employees may feel it’s not their place to decline a request. 
• Wake 30 minutes earlier. Carving out time each morning for something you want to do, whether reading the newspaper, exercising or spending time with a loved one, can set a positive tone for the day ahead.
• Heed the outsider’s perspective. If you’re hearing from friends, your partner or your 9-year-old that work is regularly bleeding into your home life, pay attention. 

What’s your superpower? Thriving Workplace Initiative’s Start with Strengths is a free, interactive session to help identify your talents and leverage them to accomplish goals, collaborate with others and thrive at work. Join TWI for the Dec. 12 session, just added by popular demand. Space is limited—learn more and sign up here.