Joe Sabado – Higher Education & Technology Leadership

I have never been able to quite figure out what is the right formula for an appropriate work-life balance. But then again, I’ve accepted the idea that I am not able to truly separate my work from my personal life and vice versa and so I’ve never spent much time trying to figure out how to balance my work/life.  I’ve been fortunate in that my wife and I have careers in higher education we both enjoy. We enjoy what we do because we truly believe in helping students and we believe in the power of education. My work is part of my whole being. It is part of who I am. I work in student affairs not solely for the money but because I find personal and career fulfillment. Generally, activities I find “wanting to do” instead of those “having to do” enjoyable and I look forward to. This is the case with my career. It’s 1:00 AM and I’m up doing system diagrams and writing this blog post and I love it. While some have pointed out this lack of sleep is detrimental to my help, I actually find working at night very relaxing and productive.

I read articles suggesting workers should not work beyond the normal 8-5 work hours. I wonder how many professionals out there have been able to  work their way up by just working within their “normal work hours”.  Personally, I spent many years of late-night hours reading and practicing my programming skills. This was a matter of personal choice. I am not a natural-born programmer so it took me longer to grasp concepts that probably come easier to others. In addition, when I started my career as a web developer in 1996, I had no mentor to learn from. There were no tutorial sites I could copy codes from. Most of what I did were unprecedented at that time  and so I had to spend extra hours after my 8-5 schedule to figure out what I was doing. In addition to my job, I also regularly accepted consulting projects so that I could learn.

There was a time soon after my wife and I got married in 2001 when I had to adjust the amount of time I worked and when I worked. As a newly married couple, our priorities changed towards spending more time together, but I don’t think it was particularly a hard adjustment. We’ve been able to go on vacations, spend a lot of time together and after 12 years of marriage, our relationship is as strong as ever. If and when we do have children, we both accept and look forward to making adjustments to fit the needs of our children and ours once again. In addition, as our aging parents require needing more attention, we will need to make the adjustments as well.

I no longer have to code in my current management position but I find myself “working” after hours, by learning and thinking about how I can be a better leader/manager today.  I also find myself spending a lot of time thinking and reflecting about the future of my profession outside work.

I suppose my wife and I do think about work/life balance but only when adjustments need to be made. Our work is part of who we are and so we don’t compartmentalize it and isolate it from our personal lives. If it ever comes to a point when my job feels as if it’s intruding on my personal life and relationships, then I will make the choice to find a new one. I can’t see that happening anytime soon. I am grateful and acknowledge the privilege of having found a career that aligns with my personal core values and goals. My perspective on how to achieve work/life balance may not be as applicable to other folks, but it’s a personal experience I wanted to share.

What’s your take on work-life balance?

image credit: http://www.greekwire.com

[tabs title=”” active=1 event=”click”]
[tab title=”General Guide:”]
[hungryfeed url=”https://www.diigo.com/rss/user/Joesabado/blog_crm” feed_fields=”” template=”3″ link_target=”_blank” max_items=15]

More resources…

[/tab]

[tab title=”Case Studies/Implementations:”]
[hungryfeed url=”https://www.diigo.com/rss/user/Joesabado/blog_crm_samples” feed_fields=”” template=”3″ link_target=”_blank” max_items=15]
More resources…

[/tab]

[tab title=”Vendors:”]

[hungryfeed url=”https://www.diigo.com/rss/user/Joesabado/blog_crm_vendors” feed_fields=”” template=”3″ link_target=”_blank” max_items=15]

More resources…

[/tab]

[/tabs]

“I wish I could tell you that you’re yelling at someone who wanted to commit suicide just a couple of days ago” were the words in my head as a friend was yelling at me to do more for our Filipino community. She was yelling suicide rate numbers at me, teenage suicide rates in San Diego. She had real passion for social justice and I truly respected her for that. In my own way, I tried my best to advance the cause of Asian American students at UCSB in the way I knew how, but all I could think while I was being yelled at was how I wish I was the one being helped. I was seen as the one with influence, someone who had the power to make changes yet here I was, someone who needed help as well.

(continue reading…)

I sit here in front of my laptop watching the twitter back channel (#naspa13)  and wishing I could have been at the NASPA 2013 Conference in Orlando, Florida. I could have met some of my twitter connections for the first time. There is an immense value to face-to-face interactions when it comes to learning and building communities. I attended NASPATech in Rhode Island a couple of years ago where I learned a lot about technology in higher ed from other folks around the country. I also had good conversations between sessions, at meals, and on our walk to an ice cream shop in freezing temperature at night.

I have been thinking about the ideas of online student services and online education the last few months. It is with this mindset that as I look at the title of this year’s NASPA conference “Bold Without Boundaries”, I start to explore  how we as a profession can extend the boundaries of learning and building communities beyond the physical space  of the Marriott Hotel where the conference is held.

(continue reading…)

Online education is a hot topic in higher education today. The relationship between the teacher and students and the manner how learning happens are being redefined by technology. Through technology, teachers and students no longer have to be  physically present in same classroom at the same time.  Another area of the campus facing the same issue is student affairs. One question being asked is how effective are online  student services relative to  face-to-face interactions.  This article on StudentAffairs.com in 2000 shows the issue of  technology and student services is nothing new.  As the article states, “the high-touch culture that has been the bedrock of student development practice for decades will be impacted by the advancement of technology both inside and outside the classroom.”

(continue reading…)