Greetings from Texas, Y’all!
Kristina and I are currently in Austin, TX at this year’s Nonprofit Technology Conference.
This morning, Stephanie Bowen, Leili Khalessi, Kerala Taylor and I led a session called Paradox but Possible: Hardcore on Work AND Life.
Stephanie, Leili, Kerala, and Kivi
After the session, we heard this statement from about 20 people who were NOT in it: “Oh, I wanted to go to that session, but I decided that would have been more for me personally, and I needed to go to a session for my work.”
Which is exactly why we did this session.
Many of us we feel like we are neglecting our personal needs or interests for the sake of getting the job done. For others, it’s just the opposite – we feel like we are doing a great job taking care of ourselves and those around us, but maybe aren’t doing everything we could for the important causes we work for. And there’s lots of guilt about all of this in our sector, no matter where you are on the spectrum.
For the people who made the choice to go to a session “for themselves,” we structured the conversation and sharing around four themes:
- Learning how to say no
- Asking for what you need
- Owning your schedule
- Assessing your strengths
We heard some very powerful stories, including from two women who had to fight life-threatening diseases before they took the time to really figure out their own work-life balance. They encouraged all of us not to wait for that kind of intervention!
We had some awesome note-takers in the room, so you can read the tips and insights that everyone shared here.
