How guilty do you feel?

• Can you negotiate a new set of expectations with key stakeholders so you could do enough to meet their expectations?
• You might be working differently, but still meeting the needs of important customers.
• Have you thought through why you might feel guilty?
• Who are you letting down? Will you be earning less? Disappointing your boss? Your family? Letting your colleagues down?
• Can you realistically please everyone? Are you sure that people who are important to you will no longer accept you?
• One way to minimize the disappointment that others feel is to manage their expectations rather then just announce an unexpected change.
• How can you find out what is really important to them and how you can meet their needs while still working differently?
• Prioritize. Work to please only the few key people who matter most in your life and work. Do something for others, but much less.
• What new ways can you add value while still not working so hard?

Re-frame your role

Instead of being the one who takes every monkey on your back personally, position yourself differently:

• Broker - knowing someone else who can do it.
• Manager - not a doer, but a coordinator.
• Coach - help others to think differently.
• Facilitator, catalyst - link people to other resources.
• Leader - show others the way forward.
• Mentor - help others learn to work smarter.
• Trainer - show others how to help themselves.

Can you see ways of actually adding more value by re-framing your role with less effort and time? How might you use this re-framing to improve your work-life balance?