A common misconception about construction careers is that if you work in this profession, then you’ll be too busy to have a personal life. Although many of these positions can be very demanding, most companies still provide good working hours with evenings and weekends off. In addition to earning a higher than average construction salary, some other benefits of the construction industry include job security and good benefits. Here are some ways that can help you achieve a better work-life balance in the construction field.
Prioritize to Improve Productivity
Instead of working harder to meet your goals, focus on working smarter. Start each day by choosing the most important things you need to accomplish and complete them first. Otherwise, they don’t get done and you wind up putting out fires all day. But, if you complete them early, the rest of the day will go much smoother.
Delegate When Appropriate
If one of your subordinates is more efficient at doing something than you, don’t hesitate to assign more responsibilities to them. It’s also important to streamline and automate as many processes as you can so that you can save time. For example, you can keep an archive of letters and responses used for previous clients that you can paste into emails for current and future correspondence.
Avoiding Distractions
Although smartphones can be useful tools on the job, if you don’t have some discipline regarding their use, then they will cause you to lose focus on your work. Unless it’s work related, it’s best to avoid those major distractions like social media and personal email while on the clock. They can use up your precious time during work hours pretty quickly, putting you behind schedule on things that are critical for your success. It’s also important to stay focused so you don’t compromise safety on construction projects.
Track Your Time
It can be enlightening to see what you are spending the most time on each day. From apps and spreadsheets to timers and clocks, there are a variety of convenient ways to find out what’s being accomplished, and then determining how to adjust your priorities. Be specific when you track your time so that you can compare it to those times where you were most successful. Analyze your time spent vs. goals reached so you know where to focus your time going forward. Then, focus on results that were achieved rather than activities.
Prioritize at Home
It’s essential to establish plans outside of work as well; whether it’s meals, workouts, kids, trips, etc. If meal prep is a priority for you, then plan ahead so you don’t waste time and energy trying to figure those details out each day.
Don’t Multi-task
Not too long ago, many in leadership thought it was more effective to complete multiple tasks at once. The problem is that it’s not truly possible do multiple things well at one time. It’s been proven to be very unproductive. It’s much more efficient to stay focused on the original task until it’s successfully completed before moving on to other tasks.
How can we help you?
Searching for an opportunity in the construction industry? Contact The Birmingham Group today to discuss your career path or browse our open positions.
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