Ep 209| 8 Practical ways of Mastering Work-Life Balance for Women Designers in Suburban India

Today we are going to understand a very important problem, particularly designers, I would say very specifically women designers are facing in their career. You know what, how to really balance your work life, being a married woman in order to become more successful without compromising on my top priorities. That too I am living in cities like Chennai, Bombay, Bangalore, Delhi suburban cities grow. So this podcast is going to give you eight different ways how you can balance and manage it. And you're going to have a lot of statistics and study which has published in order to justify this information also. So I'm going to give you practical tips, take a notes and try to implement each and every one of this in order to get results very fast. Okay, so let's jump in. Thank you for staying tuned in guys. Design for Change has impacted thousands of students across the globe and the podcast channel has reached 4.8 rating and in Apple podcast it is 4.9. Thank you so much for this support and please do share it with your friends and community. Because I'm on a mission to help 1 million designers to reach their creative lifestyle before 2030. Even though they have a design experience or not, they will have a degree or not, I'm going to help them get success. Okay, so if you are one of them on this journey, this is the exact podcast for you which you have tuned. By the way, I'm Jagdish, having total nine years of experience in product design and development. Over a span of time I've did 70 plus projects. 7 0. I worked as a mechanical engineer, product designer and currently I'm in one of the top medical design studios in India. I worked with more than 15 different country designers and I've guided 10,000 or even 12,500 plus students in order to get them success. Also, I particularly helped recently students to get faster results in order to get 2x or 3x salaries. This is a very short introduction about you want to really go and know more. You can claim that free gift inside which you will find a lot of information about me. Okay, this is there in the description of this podcast you can find that today we are going to have a very interesting thing. Guys, how do you women find that work, life balance? Okay, first understand women. Okay? You're not the only one alone in this world. There are a lot of women, there are a lot of successful women, There are a lot of other women who are there. Okay, you know what? Particularly female participation is very high in this career in this creative design field. Globally, women make around 40 to 45% of the design workforce according To a data from World Design Organization, you can find that in India the number of women in design is related roles has increased approximately by 30 percentage in this last 10 years. So as per a report by national sample survey office has found that particularly married women in design. So studies indicate 60 to 70% of the women in the design are married. So they have to balance the career as well as the household responsibilities in an even way. A survey conducted by leading design organization found that 78% of the married women designers have a big struggle in maintaining their work life balance. You know what, citing the household duties as a primary challenge, that's their big challenge. What they are quoting. In fact, 78 percentage. It's not a small number. Let's say if you take rural urban population like let's say metropolitan cities. This is the particular, specific information what I want to collect for this particular podcast, which is metropolitan cities like let's say Chennai, Bombay, Delhi, Bangalore. Approximately 65 to 70 percentage of the women are concentrated, drawn by the abundance of job opportunities and creative hubs. So they were really into that. However, suburban areas surrounding the cities also has a significant presence for these women, which is up to 25 to 30%, which is a remaining 100 minus 70 is 30. Right. So this is the distribution what you have, either if you're fitting there or here. This eight way is going to help you guys, okay? And also impact on the household responsibilities. See, research indicates that marriage women, marriage designers particularly spend average three to four hours per day on household activities every day.

Okay?

And they have to take care of their child, their household activities. This definitely impacts their productivity and career advancement. Particularly if you're work from home, you'll be really distracted a lot. You know what, despite these challenges, married women, they really contribute a lot significantly to this industry. You know what? 82% of the report says that they have added a lot of things in terms of problem solving, creativity, they've improved their skills and it has influenced their diverse experience. So see the other perspective of it. There is a good advantage what these women designers really bring in. That's what is my big point here. See, being a designer, particularly if you're a woman, you bring a very fresh perspective. Like let's say you're raising a kid, you're with a husband, you're having a family life and you're coming from a very different thought process because men and women have a different world and different world of thinking. Our priorities do matter differently. So you bring a different perspective for a design. I would say a good healthy Team should have men and women both mix it and the creativity and the kind of perspective what we share is also very different. Second guys, majority of the HRS in this world are women. Majority of the customer service people are women. Majority of the air hostess, majority of the nurses, majority of the people who are the service industry are women. You know why? Evolutionarily women have that nature to take care, to give love, to give more of the nature of serving and helping others. It doesn't mean like men doesn't have but relatively women has more because I'll tell you what, I read a book called Sapiens during the evolution, like let's say 20,000 years before, 50,000 years before, women used to be the people who will be taking care of the household activities like raising a kid. She'll be spending maximum time to prepare food, to take care of the child, to take care of the environment, to keep it clean. They make the bond between different communities and different foragers and bat inside the forest. Men do a hunting and they come back and take the food and serve. So this nature has been imbibed in our genes. Let me tell you why it is an advantage. If you can able to deliver that and bring this to your work life balance and productivity. You already have that in your gene. You're just grooming yourself and then you're just making that warm up and then you're just doing that activities to bring back that particular habits in you which is already ingrained in your DNA. So take this and see this as an advantage. See managing family business company, you will be more better than men. Guys, to be very honest, women will be really very, very, very better than men in managing all these things in priority. Like let's say there are some men's. I'm not talking about the extremities of the curve, I'm talking about the standard median of the curve. Okay, let's talk about that. A lot of people in the discussion of thinking hey I'm this that don't talk about the extremities, I'm not worried about them, I'm worried about the median population. Because men relatively are not that effective compared to women who can handle the multiple situations and strategies. And also when a war situation comes or when a big political insurgent happens or any kind of a strategic decision needs to be made. It's always important to have a women in the team who is experienced in that field, particularly in order to arrive at consensus. What happens is we'll be pushed to take a biased decision. So these are all really important statistics, guys. You know, work, life balance and household responsibilities can be really high. But studies shows 65% of the women designers feel satisfied with their career progression. They are satisfied, but are they really happy with their improvement? That's again a big question.

Okay.

Further, 75 to 80% of the women designers express a strong desire for more flexible work arrangement, supportive policies for a better management of their work roles and family taking care of the things. So these are some statistics and information you need to understand and get away. Now let's see the eight important steps. This is very important. Okay. See, the reason why I'm giving you this information is you need to just get the awareness of what's around us. Then we'll see the steps. Okay. The very first thing is you can read a book called Eat that frog. You need to listen to this book in audio. It's there in the YouTube, free of cost. You can order in Amazon or Flipkart. It's just a 200 rupees book. You can listen to this book and read this book for three times. Okay, you can read it once and you can listen it once. Three times. You need to do this, guys. I'll tell you what. First time you listen, you will not understand that much better. Second time, you will write some notes about what you can implement. Third time, when you are reading this book, you need to make some 20 different cards. Cards, like visiting cards.

Okay.

Write down your top takeaway and action point of this particular book. There will be 21 chapters in this book. You can take any one or two or three. Okay. I would say three is a good thing. And also write 20 different learnings of this. First in the cards. And then second step is every day. When you start every day. If you're, if you're starting up with the priorities, write 10 different tasks, which is important for you. I always tell in my podcast, think about you traveling out of your house or your office for a month. What are the top 10 activities which you'll complete? Immediately write it.

Okay.

Circle the 80% of the activity which will give you a big impact. Think and then complete that task and then go for the next priority. Ask the question again. Out of this nine task which is the one task which I have to do if I'm able to travel for the next one month out of this town, complete that one task and then go for the 10 remaining eight is there. So out of this eight, if I'm going out for the town, what are the one task which I'll complete? See guys, you Are setting a very good priority and sequence to complete this task. And then if you're determining this is a top task, do it hundred percentage without distraction. If you are distracted, you will eat away your family's time. If you're distracted too much, you eat away your professional time. So either of this is a big problem. You'll be working on weekends. Too much hours. That's not really good. So remember always guys. The third important thing is you are the first thing. Family is with you. Second. And then your profession comes around. Don't reverse the priority. Sometimes what happens is they put family in the priority. Not taking care of themselves, not eating properly, not sleeping properly, not taking enough rest. What will happen then? You will be a burden for the family. Think about it. Okay, so you first family second profession. Third. You need to structure in that way. Ask a question every time. This priority. Whenever you are encountered with a very ad hoc task or any kind of a big responsibilities or a project which you are given, think about this and ask a question. If you align these three, definitely you will see a clarity on what to do first, second and even what to ignore.

Okay?

Fourth is write your goal in a smart format. Smart goals. Okay. If you're not sure, just google this word Smart goals. You'll find a lot of information, Very specific, measurable, achievable, relevant time bound goals for one year.

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That's not the point. Tell your family that you're going to achieve this in one year. Get their acceptance and then make the action points. Don't be in a separate track. Then that will be a big problem for you. See, people don't do the simple things. And they talk about work, life, balance this that big fights will happen if you're not understanding. You not setting a goal is a big priority and a problem. Because you'll be also unhappy. They'll be also unhappy. Not knowing what is your priority. You itself don't know what's your priority. Then how can you even convince your family around you, people around you. So that's very important. Fifth is have a very good association with your boss and the subordinates whom you're working with. Why I'm telling you this is important is whenever a Doha Karana emergency situation arises, they'll be able to take care of your responsibility for that one or two days. So that you can come back if you're not associating with someone. And then if you're not having that relationship built in, you'll be a lone warrior. It will be a big problem, guys. At least for this reason you need to start networking with people. Don't tell that you are an introvert. This word extrovert. Don't have these words. Have a clear goal. If you wanted to really achieve your goal, you have to learn certain traits and attributes which needs that in order to become that person.

Okay?

So just come out of that comfort zone. Sixth is have a kind of low priority and high priority task in your household. Like let's say if it's a low priority task, like let's say, yeah, cooking is very important. Cleaning is very important household activity. Arranging things, everything is important. On top of it, if you find you can outsource it to somebody who can, you can hire a maid or a service person or maybe a helper who can help you for a few hours, you can pay them a little. Okay, so initially it may seem like an expense. But over the time, if you can able to manage that, you will get a lot of time where you can work or maybe you can balance your family and you can make even more money with that. This is called smart delegation. See, people don't know how to do this. You cannot replace everything in your life with servants or maid or anything. You can prioritize certain low priority activities. Like let's say for cleaning you can have a person. For cooking, both of them can be done by a person. Or maybe to arrange your things, you can do it. Or maybe to sort your food, you can do it. Maybe if you, if you're not sure of the cookie, you can have one person. What happens is even though you might be initially losing some money, that's your expense, that's fine. But you will be putting the time back productively in your work in order to gain 2x3x later one of my student, she had this problem, okay? So she was telling she was putting a lot of efforts. She's not getting results despite. And yes, she's a good hard worker and she puts effort. She has solid skills. But she's telling I don't have time, I don't have time. This, this, that. I told her write what is really taking lot of your time. Okay, first she was telling this, that and all after two, three round of discussion it came to know that his half her office was the most time taking activity.

Okay?

She cannot avoid household works and she has to somehow compromise and then there is some kind of a performance. This thing also will be happening right, if you compromise there. So she has to manage both. What I did is I asked her to write which is the top priority activity, which is Taking her.

Okay.

And then she said office is the major time taking after a process which I, which I used to help students with. She also followed that process. And then she found that later, with help of the family, I asked her to reprioritize what is really required at first place in order to get a good design job and eliminate rest of the things in that elimination job is also one thing. So what she did was initially she was hesitant. I said think and do it before you take this action. And there was a situation in the office which she also took that as an advantage. And then she quit the job. She told her family that I'll be out of job. She told her husband, discussing in a polite manner. And she got the family approved and acceptance. And then she get the job. And then she left the job. Now she is having so much of time in her day, 80% of the big priority which is blocking her is removed. Now she's so happy. In fact, I asked her to read the book, eat that frog. So she got that clarity. And then she's so happy. Now she's peacefully preparing. She's getting now interviews. Before she used to not even get interviews. Now she's applying for jobs, getting interviews. Definitely she'll get results in a week's time. It's not a big problem. So finding out that low priority task, finding out that high time eating task and eliminating is very, very important. Guys, I'll give you a simple formula to do it, okay? If you are encountering a task, first try to eliminate it. If you're not able to eliminate it, then try to automate it, okay? If you're still not able to automate it using systems, tools or anything, try to delegate it with someone in your team or your other boss or something. If you're not able to delegate it, outsource it, okay? Maybe you can outsource it to someone. Maybe you can also to some maid or people who can do that work for you. If you're still not able to outsource it, then you do it, okay? This is the best way to eliminate a lot of things in your life and have a very peaceful and a meaningful life which will give you lot of happiness. Guys. In fact, the more money you make, the more time and happiness you will have in your life because you have sorted all this financial freedom so that you will have a huge surplus time with you. This is really true as practically 90% of our problem will get sorted. If we have enough money to take care of our expenses and settle out all our expenses and all in order to lead a peaceful life. Okay, so try to eliminate it first. If you're not able to eliminate it, automate it. If you're not able to automate it, delegate it. If you're not able to delegate it, outsource it. If you're not able to outsource it, then go and do it. I learned from my mentor. This is really, really powerful method.

Okay?

Using this I've improved myself 10x faster. I have improved and I have made a very, very productive improvement in my work also. This is really, really mind blowing. Guys. Go and implement it. Seventh is have a fitness regime. Don't tell no time is there. This is the most utmost priority. Have a proper six to eight hours of sleep according to your body. What it needs. Eat your nutrition, diet properly with all protein, carbs, balance, fiber balanced.

Okay?

You need to always detoxify yearly once. Whether you have a pregnancy problem, whether you have this problem, whether you have a back pain problem. A lot of married women have a different problem. Let me tell you guys, you need to take care of yourself. If you are not taking care of yourself first, you cannot blame anything, anybody for this. Later, your inability to do your work and your inability to even do your own work will make you irritated on the others who is around you. This will create a lot of stress in you as well as them. I've seen a lot of people like this.

Okay?

So fitness, sleep, food, nutrition, detoxifying your health in a year and then taking care is most important thing.

Okay?

Eight is wake up a little early. That's why all of my programs are in the early mornings. I used to help students wake up that morning. I keep a very high energetic session because they're so expressed. They are very happy. They are engaged in that session so that their day starts like that. And then if like let's say 5 to 5:30 to 7:00 clock is my. It might is my class normal time. Imagine your major learning is over at 7 o' clock itself. And after that you have a full day when you wake up early and then you sleep little early. You find lot of time coming in your life magically, guys.

Okay?

And make sure you fulfill your life with highest priorities in that time. See if you're not fulfilling your highest priority. Like let's say work or family or happiness. Definitely you will find, definitely you'll find problem. Definitely you will not have a peace of mind if you stop doing this. Like let's say if you. If you have some problems in your work life balance. And then if you find this exact problem, but you're not taking any action towards it. If you're not fulfilling that responsibility, I'll tell you, it will eat you inside. You will go into a big depression. You will go into a big problem. You will not have a real peace of mind. So find a job, find a priority. Find. If it's family you're taking care. If you're leaving job, that's okay. Do that with hundred percentage focus from end to end. If you are focusing there full 100 percentage, that will give you a proper satisfaction and happiness. Or else it will become it will create hundred other different problems. Okay? The eighth important part. What I told you is very important. Focus on your highest value. Whether it's a family, profession, anything. And give your 100 percentage. Then and only you will be happy internally.

Okay?

Irrespective of any outcome, whether it's yielding you financial benefit or anything, it's okay. If you're not doing that, you will have a lot of stress developed with you.

Okay?

So always engage yourself. Keep on doing something. Don't just sleep. Don't just have late night sleep or late wake up in the morning. Just keep on engaging on something. Because when you keep moving, you'll be really, really active and happy. If you're stuck somewhere and then you're not taking action, stress gets developed. In fact, stress is inability to take action. If you're not taking action for the problem what you're facing, you will develop a stress. At least if you are trying something enough hard, if it's not working, you'll be at least happy. This is what the definition my mentor said. Stress will be developed when you take no action. So think about these eight important things. First is eat your frog. You can read that book three times and make 20 different cards of action. Second is top 10 activities. You need to prioritize thinking you are out of the town for a month and apply this 8020 rule. And third is remember you always trust your family and then your profession is the priority. Ask this question every time. Fourth is write your goal one year and get your family acceptance. Fifth is have a close association with your boss and colleagues. Sixth is have a low priority and high priority task dedicated to outside. Eliminate it, automate it, delicate it, outsource it. If you're still not able to do it, then you to perfectly. Okay? So this in fact will save you a lot of time and take care of your fitness. Sleep, food, detox for your body and wake up little early and focus on your highest value. Actually, if you're able to follow this, you will be able to create a great impact in your work life. Balance, guys. Okay? And countless women have really succeeded in their life because of implementing the strategies inherently or even they've applied even more beyond this. Okay, so look at all the CEOs. Look at all the top CEOs. Like, let's say if you. If you go to just Google and type out the top celebrities and 100 top influential business people, you'll find a lot of testimonies. So that will give you clarity, that will give you confidence and aspiration to go ahead. Okay, thank you so much. Take care. We'll see you in another episode. Bye Bye.

Sam.