Page 8 - InCommand Volume 30

Work-Life Balance
Battalion Chief Ian Emmons, Washington Twp. Fire Department
I’m sure you have heard, or maybe even thought to yourself, the
fire service is unlike any other profession. While this may be true in many ways, like other industry leaders, chief fire officers often struggle with balancing their personal lives and their careers. Many of us remember being
a firefighter or company officer and having a work day that came to an end. Whatever we were working on before it was time to clock out could wait until the next tour. Then we earned our third, fourth, or even fifth bugle, and those days quickly changed.
As a chief officer, the administrative tasks and projects that sit on our desks have a timeline for completion. Members of our departments, the public, and elected officials are patiently waiting for a response, an answer, or a solution. Our day is never really over, the work is never truly finished, and as we complete one project, there is another on deck to take its place.
Fortunately, we do get to go home and tend to ourselves. We spend
time with our family and friends, or working on a hobby. This personal time is important for a variety of reasons and should be used to recharge one’s batteries or simply decompress. It is all too easy to allow our professional lives to creep, or leap, into our personal lives. Feelings of obligation
to be available for work 24/7 and to always provide a timely response are ever present. While sometimes this is a necessity, there are few situations that truly require our immediate response which could not have been mitigated in advance through sound processes and planning. Once we acknowledge the value of having both time to work and play, we can begin the process
of establishing a healthy work-life balance.
Having a healthy work-life balance means something different to each of us, and it’s up to you to define what that looks like for yourself. While there is ample evidence pointing toward
the benefits of establishing balance between the corner office and home, cautionary tales about not doing so indicate the damage that may be done to your job performance, relationships, and overall health. With that motivation, here are a few suggestions and reminders to get us started toward achieving balance and having the best of both worlds.
1. Create clear expectations and
boundaries.
This process should be established early on in your tenure, but if you are like most chief officers, it probably wasn’t. Don’t fret; it’s never too late
to establish clear expectations that
will pay dividends. The expectations created for yourself and your family should be specific to your situation and should be flexible. The expectations
for your department members should be clear and include the development of policies, procedures, and processes that empower your members to
make decisions within their scope of responsibility. Depending on the size and structure of your organization,
it may be appropriate for you to be notified of a working fire while at home. However, receiving phone calls or returning to the station for lesser issues such as simple discipline or vehicle maintenance can be minimized or prevented all together through effective planning.
2. Prioritize and structure your time.
There will likely always be issues that “pop-up” requiring your attention. However, you should attempt to prioritize your obligations both at
work and home. This process could be as simple as a post-it note or as extensive as a tightly monitored calendar, including reminders pushed to your phone (I highly recommend the latter). The right tools can help you remain focused as well as limit your involvement in time-wasting activities. You will always have competing obligations, but it’s up to you to decide what is most important at that moment. Urgent items are not always important, and some of our most important items are not always the ones that seem the most urgent.
3. Disconnect.
While this will not always be
an option, you should attempt to “unplug” from work as often as you can. This doesn’t mean shirking your duties, instead you are acting on the boundaries and expectations that
you previously set. Monitor your phone and email activity and usage while away from the station. It’s understandable that you should be available in an emergency situation. However, the majority of those emails, text messages, or phone calls can wait until 0800 tomorrow.
It is important to understand that striking a balance between work and home will not occur overnight, and probably not even in a month or two. Constant recalibration is required
to ensure the needs of you and your department are being met. The most significant thing any of us can do right now is take a long, hard look at our current balance and determine whether it’s sustainable. Nobody on their deathbed has ever said "I wish I had spent more time at the fire house". So, remember, be deliberate in how you distribute your time.
8 InCommand APRIL/MAY/JUNE 2020 • www.ohiofirechiefs.org