Work/ Life Balance for Engineers

A couple days ago, I posted an article where I listed 67 ways you could become the top engineer in your organization. This was by far the most popular post I've ever had on my site in terms of readership, but it also drew some pretty serious criticism. The main critiques were about points 6 and 7.

6. Show up early

7. Stay late

I caught a lot of flak for suggesting that putting in more time at work was a good way to climb your way through the ranks. Many people reminded me of the importance of work-life balance. It really struck me how passionate people felt about this. It was also a bit striking at how misunderstood the suggestion was.

Given all that, I thought it might be a good idea to flesh things out a little bit.

Showing up early and staying late

So, what exactly did I mean when I said that engineers should show up early and stay late if they want to make it to the top?

Well, to be blunt, I believe that engineers - junior engineers especially - can benefit a lot from investing extra time into their careers. I definitely don’t mean “show up so that people see how hard-working you are”. You need to actually invest yourself. Investing time leads to more experience and better skills. It also demonstrates a commitment to your work, which bodes well for anyone eager to get the next big promotion.

For anything to grow, it takes time, and hard work. That includes your career.

That doesn’t mean that every engineer needs to work longer days to get ahead. Not at all. I’ve worked with people who keep very strict 8-hour work days who are in leadership positions, and others who are at the office 12+ hours a day who are in the same role they’ve always been in, and always will be.

Extra time at the office isn’t a guarantee for moving ahead. I do believe, however, that if you want to be the best engineer you can, you need to invest more than the bare-minimum.

What about the rest of life?

Good question. As it so happens, many engineers have lives outside of work. I’m one of them. It’s important to remember that you work to live, you probably shouldn’t be living to work.

So how does this fit in with my suggestion that you should put more time in at the office to get ahead?

I think there are a couple points to ponder here. First, if you’re really interested in getting ahead at work, there are a ton of other ways to do it without burning the midnight oil (I came up with 65 other ideas, after all). Don’t think for a second that the only way to do it is to take time away from the rest of life and give it to work. Secondly, a great engineer isn’t someone whose only daily activity is work. In fact, the best engineers are holistic, well-rounded people.

What’s really important?

If you really want to be your company’s top engineer, it’s going to take sacrifice. You’ll need to work harder, longer, and smarter than the next guy. That’s a given. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up the rest of life. Maybe it means sleeping in a little less, or ditching TV. I’m a family man, and a busy guy outside of work. I’m not saying work is more important than life, but it is definitely more important than a lot of things we tend to do with our free time.

There’s always fat to trim if you look hard enough. Don’t give up what’s important for the sake of being a good engineer, but don’t fool yourself into thinking there’s no way for you to invest yourself to be better at what you do.

Challenge yourself today to make time for both life and work, and you might be surprised at what you can do to be a better you.

About Pat Sweet

Pat Sweet is a Professional Engineer working in Ontario, Canada. He’s a full-time vehicle engineer focusing on commuter train electrical systems and the author behind the Engineering and Leadership blog, where he shares his thoughts and experiences on leadership, productivity and career advice for engineers. Go to Pat’s blog now to get your free copy of his free career guide –The 7 Habits of a Highly Ineffective Engineer.

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