Tim McDermott “Getting Your Life Back in Balance”

I did the unthinkable.  I was driving down the road with my radio station on while my wife, Trudy, was talking to me.  She asked me a question and due to my male ability not to multi-task, I wasn’t listening to her.  I was focused on the promo playing on the station.  But not for long.  She said, “Are you listening to me?”  I was caught.  I turned the station off.   I was out of balance. 

Work/life balance is one of the most important tight ropes we need to walk as leaders.  If you are like me, then sometimes it’s hard to see work as work because we enjoy it so much.  If I were working in construction on an Interstate highway in Arizona in August, then that would be work.   But this is radio.  I love it. It’s fun.  It’s purposeful.  It’s meaningful.  But it is still work and to our loved ones – if we are not careful – they can see it as something we love more than them.

Here are a few tips to keep work work and life life.

1. Have a life outside of work. Do life with your family outside of work.  Have friends outside of work.  During those times, be intentional about not talking about work.  I used to bike ride with people who didn’t even listen to the station.  Some weren’t Christians.  It was great to just be a person and it helped re-center my life.

2. Don’t bring your work home. No emails, texts, phone calls.  Turn it off when you walk in the door. When you are home, be a dad, a mom, a father or mother.  Don’t spend time at the dinner table talking about work problems.  Instead ask them questions about their lives.  Invest your time in their events – even if it means sacrifice.  If you are married, check with your spouse regularly to see if you are spending too much time at work.  If you spouse’s love language is quality time, you may need to spend extra time with them.

3. Turn the radio off and listen or watch something else. Your mind and body need a break.  If we spend too much time on even a good thing, it can become a bad thing. Eventually it can unknowingly hurt relationships around us and in the end hurt ourselves.  So turn it off and replace it with something else – read a book (not about radio or leadership), watch a movie with your spouse, play some games with the kids.

I know the above can be hard.  I can’t honestly say I have arrived.  I remember a couple years after I left my job at KSBJ that one of our kids told me I was a more relaxed person now.  They said my life was all about the station and now I was different – more balanced.  Honestly, I was so blind to it, I didn’t realize it because I enjoyed it so much.  Now I am aware and I want to help you, too.  Are you off balance?  It’s not too late to make some changes.  Make 2026 the year to get your balance back.

Tim McDermott is the CFO for Far East Broadcasting Company.  He has over 40 years of broadcast leadership experience and can be reached at tmcdermott@FEBC.org