How do you balance your personal and professional commitments?

Wouter Van Wersch

President & CEO, GE ASEAN

Balancing personal and professional commitments can be a challenge. I manage it in three steps. Prioritise: My priorities in life are my family and career. On the professional front, I set specific goals and ensure that my time at work is spent on more important activities aligned towards those goals. As a family man, I make priority for quality time every evening and on weekends if I am in Singapore, and share fun things with my children such as playing field hockey. Empower: I delegate both in my professional and personal life. By allowing other people to help me, it frees up some of my time to focus on strategic matters. Reflect: It is important that I separate my professional and personal commitments; otherwise, it will be difficult to focus on or enjoy either completely. At the end of each day, I always find time to unwind and reflect on the day. I also like to exercise. It helps me to focus and build my stamina for work and life.

Jeffrey Liu

Co-Founder & CEO, GuavaPass

I used to agitate over my inability to accomplish the overwhelming number of tasks I have on hand, which stems from not having enough time to balance both personal and professional commitments. While I have mastered the art of working quickly and juggling multiple tasks at once, I discovered early on the limits of working at maximum efficiency. While it may seem heroic to pull all-nighters or sleep less, it eventually comes back to hinder your performance. Instead, the real question one should really ask is, how can I do less? Counter-intuitive as it seems, forcing myself to focus only on the 3-5 most important items each day has been a game changer. This instils strict discipline in how I prioritise my time, and at the end of the day, I accomplish more, sleep more, and balance more personal and professional commitments.

John Butler

Managing Director for Asia Pacific, Linesight

With three kids at home – all under four years old – coupled with running a fast-growing regional business, balancing my responsibilities is a constant but rewarding challenge. There are three important steps I follow. First, I find it useful to identify my key business, individual and family commitments at the start of every month, revising these each week if needed. Second, I set aside some time for myself to avoid burnout both personally and professionally. For me, playing football, cycling and living as healthily as possible help to clear my mind and keep me fresh for the challenges ahead. Finally, and most importantly, I am always grateful. I have a very supportive, loving family and exciting, stimulating work, and being appreciate of both is what drives me to do my best each day.

Sean Treacy

Managing Director for Singapore & SEA, Royal Caribbean Cruises

Balancing personal and professional commitments can be a real challenge especially in today’s fast paced world. Start your day out right and surround yourself with amazing people in your work and personal life and you’ll find the time and flexibility to be successful in your professional and personal life. When you start early, you can use the extra time to review your schedule and plan for the next few days. I find, I am least distracted first thing in the morning before the emails, calls, and meetings begin. Just 30 minutes to yourself to review your schedule and goals for your personal and professional life every day can make a big difference. I am very fortunate to work with a team of highly capable professionals who keep me organised and who I trust to delegate to when I am attending to personal matters. In my personal life, I am very blessed to have an amazing partner in my wife who is extremely supportive.

John Ponsonby

Managing Director, AgustaWestland

I think balance makes me more effective and more engaged with the people who support me - work colleagues, close friends and family. That’s why I always find time to exercise and to enjoy my current sport – cycling. This helps to energise and focus my attention and hopefully enables me to provide effective leadership of my organisation. Proper sleep and rest is an important self-discipline, allowing me to remain engaged on the strategic issues from which I can make clearer and more informed decisions. Honesty, humility and self-reflection are critical because invariably there are times when the balance swings too far in favour of work – as my wife has often told me, sometimes with a smile and sometimes not! It’s a work in progress, but constant self-reflection remains for me the most effective way manage the stresses and strains of business life.

Compiled by Rumi Hardasmalani (rumih [at] mediacorp.com.sg)