by Steven Gomez

Created on: September 30, 2008   Last Updated: April 02, 2009

Salaried 50-60 hour weeks and 12 hour days are more frequent in the office, cutting into our lives. Many of us work to facilitate the rest of our lives, but we're getting less and less time to live life. We also don't want to damage our careers by eschewing work and coming across as flaky. How do you succeed at work while maintaining a healthy amount of personal time?

The key to maximizing personal time is recognizing the leverage you have as an employee. Bosses can't control your free time any more than you allow them to. Sure, you need to follow schedules and protocols in your work life... but you have far more control over your schedule than you think.

- If you work an 8 to 5 job... you have every right to walk out the door at your scheduled end time. Most people who work late do so not because they're being forcibly kept in the office, but voluntarily: to meet a workload impossible to finish in an 8 hour day.

Most reasonable bosses would rather you be honest about your limits than to make big promises and not deliver. Say you face a big project you know you can't finish by 5 pm. Tell your boss, "This is too much. I must leave at 5, and I cannot finish this alone by then." Say this regardless of your schedule after work. Treat your personal time like a doctor's appointment.

A good boss will reduce or alter your workload accordingly. Be open to options that facilitate your goal to leave on time. Stand firm if your boss pushes you to take it on anyway. But most bosses worth their salt won't. Working with your boss requires give and take. Make sure he/she does their part and gives.

- Set appointments with yourself. If you need some work time to yourself, set an appointment for that time like you're scheduling a meeting. Treat that time as a hard-set appointment. Block it out in your schedule like a meeting. Work around it when colleagues and clients ask to schedule meetings. If unavoidable obligations absolutely demand that period, reschedule for another time during the day. But do it. Treat your time to yourself with the same respect you'd give an important meeting.

If anyone demands details, you have a meeting or a call. Tell them whatever puts them at ease, but it's none of their business.

- Treat time off as concrete. If you want next Friday off, tell your boss, "I plan to take Friday off." You can discuss arrangements to cover your work for Friday. But when you approach my boss, enter the conversation under the pretense that you're absolutely taking Friday off. Don't ask: treat it as an absolute fact.

With family vacations, enter the conversation with set dates. For example, go to your boss and begin the conversation, "I am traveling to see my family the week of October 15." Asking, "Can I take the week of October 15 off to see my family?" invites your boss to stamp your intentions dead, especially given any sort of deadline during that time.

Professionals ought to treat themselves professionally. You can still produce in the workplace while providing yourself the breathing room to live a happy life. The key to balancing work and life is treating yourself as a priority, and demanding that others do the same. Respect for yourself promotes respect from colleagues, and provides more freedom in your career than you may think.

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