Spoke+Blossom: What tools/strategies do you implement to create a sense of “balance” in your day-to-day life?

Angela Padalecki: First, I get eight hours of sleep nearly every night. For me, adequate sleep is the most important step to feeling energetic, being productive and avoiding burnout. My husband and I have children and we own a farm. There is always something to do at home, but we don’t let the work get in the way of our sleep. Prioritizing adequate sleep means everyone goes to bed on time, even if we got home late from gymnastics, the laundry isn’t all done or there’s something interesting on TV that night.

Second, I keep a well-organized online calendar that covers all of my work and personal obligations and plans. I spend the first 30 minutes of every week planning. I start with the top priorities for my work and personal life and ensure proper time is scheduled for those items. I pay particular attention to what progress needs to be made on work matters and what I need to accomplish versus delegate. Next, I schedule my workouts. Last, I reschedule anything that no longer fits. Every week starts with a calendar that reflects what I’m committed to accomplishing for the week; I know it’s realistic, and I know it’s far from “everything.”

I promote balance within our airport team in several ways. First, we have clearly defined goals and expectations that focus on the long- term success of the airport. This ensures we’re in alignment about what is most important. Second, we have a leadership meeting every Monday morning and I have one-on-one meetings with each member of my team on Monday afternoons. This allows time for us to check in on progress made the week before, ask for help and set expectations about the weeks ahead. This promotes a culture of collaboration and accountability, including being accountable to having balance in life.

S+B: What challenges do you face in maintaining balance and how do you overcome them?

AP: I tend to be externally motivated and it is hard for me to tell people no — whether it’s a friend who wants to get together, a colleague who wants my help with something they’re working on or my daughter who wants me to pick her up from the bus instead of walk home. As things pop up, they have the potential to derail my week and the work I have planned. There are some things that pop up that warrant rearranging my schedule, but often I overvalue the significance of matters that involve other people and commit time I don’t have to give. This can leave me working late into the night or missing out on things that are important to me but don’t directly affect other people, like exercising. Keeping my schedule well-planned and looking at it before I commit to something gives me a moment to think about what I’m giving up if I say yes to the random unplanned engagement. Thinking about the tradeoff empowers me to say no more often, but this is still an area where I struggle.

Originally published in the Winter 2020 issue of Spoke+Blossom

Q+A On Balance With Angela Padalecki Executive Director, Grand Junction Regional Airport