#Upcycle Your Job summary

There’s no simple formula for the ideal work-life balance. Everyone is different, and a solution that works for you may not work for someone else. You may want to separate your work life from your home life completely. Or you may be willing to integrate the two – sometimes working from the office, sometimes working from home.

Figuring out how you want to approach work will require a deep investigation of your values and desires. But it’ll be worth it. Because you can only upcycle your job once you have a clear understanding of your preferences – which is the first step of the PROPEL model.

Just like any actor worth their salt, you play multiple roles. At work, you’re the boss; at home, you’re Mom. At parties, you’re charming, but around your parents you can still be the bratty child. Over the course of your life, you’ll play many different roles, from child to parent, student to teacher. This is the second step of the PROPEL model – investigating your roles. Now, playing roles is inevitable. But you can always change the way you play them. 

The key message here is: Make sure your roles are serving you – and don’t play too many at once. 

Let’s say you’ve taken stock of your roles, and it’s become clear that you’re attempting a performance you can’t sustain. You’re spread thin at home. You’re overwhelmed at work. You’re stressed every day. Something’s got to give.

At this point, it’s important to remember the third step in the PROPEL model – exploring your options. 

Let’s say a flexible schedule is not a possibility for you. Well, remember that working hours are not the only place to look for flexibility. There are always other possibilities. Realizing this is the fourth step in the PROPEL model.

What do these possibilities look like? Well, many companies evaluate job performance based on time spent working. But this is a bit silly. A much better metric is output produced. So the real secret to upcycling your job is figuring out how to organize your tasks for better balance and productivity.

So you’ve reflected deeply on your ideal work-life balance. You’ve considered your necessary boundaries. You’ve negotiated for flexible hours. What now?

If you’re not sure, well, you’re not alone. While flexible work arrangements are on the rise, there hasn’t been a lot of training on how to use these hours effectively. You may have figured out precisely where you’d like to draw the boundaries between your work life and home life. But it’s not enough to understand why and where you need boundaries. You also need the competency to enforce them. And that means developing essential skills, which is the fifth step in the PROPEL model. 

For decades now, women have been spearheading important change in the workplace, slowly transforming it from an alienating manscape into a more inclusive and balanced space. Still, the world seems to have trouble seeing them as leaders – and the lack of women at the top of the corporate hierarchy is often chalked up to their lack of ambition. 

But, as we all know, women want thriving, challenging, rewarding careers just as much as men do. Which brings us to the sixth and final step in the PROPEL model: leadership. Yes, moving into a leadership position is part of upcycling your career – but it’s also an opportunity to help other women upcycle their careers.