CFOs Battle to Maintain Work-Life Balance

The traditional “bean counter” role of the CFO is a thing of the past. Today’s financial leaders are expected to boost efficiency and cut waste across all areas of their organizations.

As a result, the typical CFO works well over 8 hours a day and catches up on what he or she didn’t wrap up on weekends. A new report, 3 pillars of successful CFOs: Strategic leadership, technological integration, and work-life harmony, from Sage Intacct, finds:

• just 27% of CFOs say they “achieve satisfactory work-life balance, despite 95% feeling professionally successful,” and
• 87% admit to feeling stressed much of the time.

CFOs surveyed by Sage Intacct pointed out two life practices that don’t save them a minute of time — in fact, they can require quite a bit of effort and discipline to maintain — but are crucial for a healthy body and happy mind:

1. exercising — running, lifting weights, a sport with friends — every day of the week or close to it, and
2. spending free time with or talking to loved ones and good friends. That’s the time you’ll never get back. As the old saying goes, no one ever said “I wish I’d spent more time at the office” on their deathbed!

Proven Ways to Take Back Some of Your Time

The Sage Intacct report recommends strategies to achieve a better work-life balance and avoid burnout. They include delegating projects to staffers who can take on more tasks and are qualified to handle them, as well as prioritizing daily, weekly and monthly duties that require one’s direct attention.

A first-time CFO or one new to an organization in particular may need to set clear boundaries on availability. “This might [require setting] specific times when you won’t respond to work emails or calls, ensuring you have uninterrupted personal time,” the Sage researchers advise. Activities such as “exercise and quality time with family and friends … should be treated as non-negotiable appointments in your calendar, akin to important business meetings.”