Holly Reeve, the CEO of HydRegen, a start-up at Begbroke Science Park, recently shared her advice and experience of finding a work-life balance and what has worked for her.
Finding a strategy and system that works for us
At this time of year, we hear so much information about how we should be living our lives, whether it’s new exercise routines, new diets, remembering to take a break as well as how we should be leaning in and never wasting a second. I find it all very conflicting. The ‘should I work every second, or should I take time out for myself?’ debate has been weighing on my mind.
The fact is, we need to find strategies and systems that work for us – in terms of maintaining high productivity, without hitting total overwhelm and focusing on goals that we find meaningful.
I’ve been talking at events recently and reflecting on how I work now versus how I worked earlier in my career. I’ve noticed some big changes that I wanted to write about in the context of finding balance.
Creating a work environment that works for me
Earlier in my career as a research scientist at university, I noticed that people worked in different ways, but I never thought much about it. I found that the mantra often seemed to be ‘more is better’. At that time in my life, my research was my passion and I was happy to devote time to making it successful.
However, I did take lots of time out of the lab, investing in training and developing my non-lab-based skills. I spent far more time outside of the lab than any other DPhil or Postdoc I knew, driven by a desire to learn about entrepreneurship and business.
But I didn’t equate that to how my brain works, or how my strengths and weaknesses were driving my decisions. In hindsight, I created a work environment that worked for me.
Being intentional with where I focus my attention
I oscillate between high attention and low attention states. This means I often thrive when there are many different things happening, but I need to be really intentional about when I am focused and make the most of applying it somewhere useful.
During my university days, this was aided by learning, talking and networking alongside detailed research, reading and writing. All these activities together, made me a well-rounded student/postdoc and enabled me to bring real-world context into my research.
Fast-forward (the best part of 10 years) and my role has changed. The value I bring to work has changed, my home-life has changed and consequently how I need to work has changed.
Understanding my strengths and weaknesses
As a CEO of a start-up, your value to the company changes over time, as you hire people that surpass your capabilities in specific areas. I’ve found this has shaken the control I naturally took earlier in my career, in how to balance my life for success.
My role brings out some of my key strengths such as, balancing big vision and small detail, motivating people, and wanting to drive things forward with big ambition. I’m good at making connections and bringing energy. I enjoy learning, problem-solving and mentoring. However, these can distract me from finding time to focus. Sometimes I am focused on finishing things and preparing documents, but much of the time my brain is working too fast and it’s better aligned with problem-solving and strategising with people.
Finding ways to focus
It’s an on-going joke that if you need me to focus on something (which is, of course a necessity in my role sometimes) I need to go for a run first or maybe squeeze in a quick gym session. That’s why, last year, I decided to bring running into my workday – and Begbroke is such a great place to start a run from. Easy access to fields and towpaths!
Not only was I finding it hard to manage my self-care and my work in a traditional 9-5 way but also knowing that it’s really important to role model the things I do to look after myself. I decided running at work was an excellent opportunity to inspire those around me and find time for non-work catchups with people. So, HydRegen lunchtime runs started!
Valuing my time
Looking forward, I really want to start creating workdays that bring out the best of my brain at different times.
I want to better understand when I’m in the right mindset to focus and when I’m in the right mindset for networking and communicating. The Holy Grail of course, would be to find out how to change my mindset rather than be reacting to the state I’m in.
Fundamentally, we all need to value our time, work with not against how our brains work, and align skill, focus and passion.
Thank you to Holly for sharing her experience and advice. Find out more about HydRegen here.
