# How to Work A Lot and Still be Present

Dec 20

Written By [Kristen Carrico](/content/blog?author=58a8cb31893fc06cb70fe651/index.html)

How do you balance work and family? How do you work a lot and not burnout? Enjoying work and putting in long hours are not inherently bad — as long as the right quantity of attention is given to other important things. As Christmas nears, many of us plan to work a little less and spend more time with friends and family. Let’s be reminded of what is needed to reset, recharge, and give full attention to what matters.

**Here are three ways to work a lot, and still be available to other important people and things:**

**1. Know that work-life balance is flawed**  
  
The concept of work-life balance implies a sense of equality. If work gets 40+ hours per week, family also needs 40+ hours. Then there are extra commitments like volunteer work, fitness, friendships … not to mention grocery shopping, car maintenance appointments, and sleep. You don’t have to be a math whiz to realize there just isn’t enough time in a week to truly find balance. **The scale will always tip in one direction.** And that is ok.

When things at work are urgent, the scale tips. When there is a family emergency, the scale tips. The very pursuit of rigid balance is often a negative (an unnecessary) stressor that is alleviated with the realization that dividing _attention_ is much more meaningful than dividing _time_.

**2. Understand how to divide attention**  
To give full attention to something or someone — even for a short duration of time — is immensely powerful. When work is demanding, make a conscious effort to be intentional with your time outside of the office.

A close friend recently shared this very relevant example with me:

He and his wife used to spend Friday evenings together. They would both veg out, have a couple of drinks, and watch Netflix. Eventually they had an honest conversation about how that time was not fulfilling to either of them — because they were both exhausted. So they made a change. He started spending Friday evenings at a local cigar shop working on deep consulting projects (and it ended up being a highlight of his work week). She started taking the alone time she desperately needed after spending 13-hour days with clients. And they replaced Friday night Netflix and chill time with Saturday activities or date nights when they were both refreshed and fully present. **The result was less pressure, and more meaningful time together.**

Although they were both working a lot, they figured out what recharged them and developed a method for spending time together that actually mattered.

Time alone doesn’t cultivate human connection or bonding — but _quality_ time does. Especially when time is limited, be intentional about making the minutes count.

**3. Wherever you are, be there**  
For many of us, our jobs or other life situations require a seemingly disproportionate amount of our time and attention. But when we truly grasp that attention is our most limited and valuable resource, we stop trying to be everywhere at once.

**If a work project is important... be wholly there. If a family vacation is important... be wholly there.**  
Some weeks I work 60+ hours, make it to the gym four times, spend a quality 90 minutes with my kids in the evenings, sleep well, and get a fun date night in with my wife. On such weeks, my schedule is packed — but I’m also filling my time with what is necessary, meaningful, and what allows me to rest and recover.

Other weeks, I only work 40 hours — and I watch a lot of Netflix with my kids while I reply to work emails from the couch. And the gym? No way.

That is the difference attention makes. Attention makes time spent working more productive; it makes time with family more intentional; and it allows rest and recharge to be prioritized.

**Wrap Up**  
As you spend time with loved ones this Christmas, be challenged to make the time count. And as a new year is almost upon us — with all of its goals, strategies, and objectives — I hope that you’ll divide your attention in ways that make whatever you’re doing more impactful.