From the TVSFMA President

Work and Life Balance …is it Attainable?

Greetings all TVSFMA members. How was your late summer? Is your fall season coming to a close? I hope you and your crew were successful in your field/facility management strategy and well prepared for those fall sports and other activities. Most important though, did you have time to take a small break, or perhaps a vacation? The longer I’ve been in this industry, the more I realize the need to take that break. This could come in the form of a weekend getaway with family or friends, the personal work day off, or the traditional family vacation to somewhere hotter than where we reside! Our profession in a way can be umbilical to us……needing more and more of our attention. We, as sports field and facility managers, want our facilities to look and play at their best. I personally cannot think off-hand of a profession so detailed and precise; and that benefits so many at one time. Now having said that, there is so much to do in such a short matter of time. Projects such as complete field renovations, summer and fall routine practices of aeration, topdressing, edging, weed control, field painting (for some, plenty of it), and of course the redundancy of mowing has required more time than what we have. We may find ourselves justifying extra time spent to get ahead of upcoming weather and planned events. Perhaps we push our work a little longer to get things “dialed in.” To be honest, I have struggled with this for years, perhaps many of you have. I hope as I write this commentary, we can sit back and think about the concept of work and life balance, and is it attainable?

There are times in life when we have to be focused and subsequently out of rhythm, such as times we put in extra hours or sacrifice life to make some progress at work. Balance, in my opinion is never perfect. Visualize an old-fashioned balance scale. It is rare we see it perfectly balanced… more often one side is higher than the other. We can also see it move at times from side to side, rarely ending equal. We should avoid letting work and life balance be a guilt trip. Perhaps we should be thinking in a way of how work and life balance should be at THIS moment in time, and not as a whole. Let us now break this down to a simpler way to take an assessment of our lives.

The first is work. Most of us have to. It’s pretty simple, we work to get paid to provide monetary funds and benefits for our families. Within our profession specifically we are paid to make improvements and provide positive results, day in and day out. I believe we ALL are designed to work and serve others and use our abilities to do so. I have thought so many times how blessed I am to be paid for something I love to do. Perhaps some delegation at work may be in order to lessen the load. Perhaps saying “NO, not now” is something to be said. Maybe a to do list or schedule is what you need.

The second is family. Do you communicate with family members? Do you spend as much time with family as you do work? Do you take an active interest in the lives of other family members? Are you present in the moment?

The third is play. Do you enjoy spending time with friends other than team members? Do you like being at social gatherings? Do you have hobbies unrelated to your profession? Is there an interest that takes you completely away from the stressors of work?

The fourth is self-care. It is very important we do not forget about our minds and bodies. Sleep, nutrition, exercise, mediation, and spiritual life are all things that keep us healthy physically and mentally not only for us, but for our families.

So how do we “balance” all these aspects? If we look at each individually, we may see some slightly off-kilter and others in a severe negative or positive state. I believe that none of these aspects will ever be equal or totally balanced. After all, we could never spend all our time with family, and not work. We can’t provide constant self-care and not have play or family time. Remember, it is natural for us to be pulled in different directions at different times. We should though, with the help of others, take notice of what’s lacking and focus on those deficiencies. I am convinced if we just make ourselves aware we can make significant strides in our personal well-being.

Finally, I want to take a minute to mention the purpose of this organization. TVSFMA is here to serve its members, whether that member is a sports turf manager or a vendor partner. Please reach out to me (bfarris@columbiatn.com) or any board member with your thoughts and ideas on how we can better serve you. Let us know what we’re good at as well as what needs some work. We’re all in this together and through our collective efforts we can grow and serve each other effectively.

Byran Farris, CSFM

TVSFMA President