The salesforce.com Woman of the Month campaign turns the spotlight on the amazing women who help make this company the World’s Most Innovative Company and one of the best places to work. Honorees are nominated by fellow employees and selected by a dedicated committee that works to ensure a variety of roles and regions are honored.
Need a little help balancing your professional life with your personal life? Keep calm and back away from the computer. Laura Anthony, Senior Manager of Technology Risk, Audit and Compliance at salesforce.com, is here to help.
In her three years at salesforce.com, Anthony has spearheaded the massive company-wide FedRAMP authorization process, coordinated a team of cross-functional engineers, and has still found quality time for family, friends, and long training runs. How does she fit it all in?
Keep reading to learn our May Woman of the Month's top six tips for finding a work-life balance:
It’s really easy to work all the time and let that consume your life--believe me, I know! But that just leads you to get burnt out, stressed, grumpy, and unable to focus. It’s important to make time for yourself in order to clear your mind and become a well-rounded individual. You have to work really hard to achieve a work-life balance, but it’s worth it.
Having a strong support structure of friends and family is very helpful. There are times when you have to work hard, and times when you need to take a step back and enjoy your life. Having a network of positive, understanding, supportive people around you to give you perspective is important.
It’s important to block your calendar for outside activities. Set expectations with the people you work around and work with--let them know you have personal commitments that are equally important to your job, and find a way to make it work between the two. I let my team know I’m leaving at a certain time and try to actually leave at that time.
Make to-do lists and reprioritize them constantly. Do certain things sometimes have to slide? Of course. There have been many times I’ve had to skip activities or events because of work. The key is that the next time something gets in the way, you must prioritize your personal life. It’s a balance. I also believe family should always come first, no matter what.
I love ballroom dancing and enjoy hobbies that involve being outside, like running, skiing, and tennis. It can be hard to mentally “turn off” when you leave work, but doing something artistic or physical encourages your brain to work in different ways and forces you to take your mind off your job.
Challenging yourself outside of work helps you stay goal-oriented in all aspects of life. This past year, I signed up for my first ten-mile race. I trained with a friend, which forced me to make time for runs. It was totally outside my comfort zone, but I’m so proud of myself. By conquering this personal challenge, I know that I can conquer any career challenge. It even inspired me to sign up for a half marathon...wish me luck!
Want to hear more from Anthony? Find her on LinkedIn. And stay tuned for more career tips and tools for success from our next salesforce.com Woman of the Month, coming your way in June.
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