Here's how you can manage work-life balance as an experienced IT Operations Manager.

In IT, I've learned that it's a #'s game, with devices, appls, DBs, end users, & your people. Meaning no matter how good you are, how good your doco is, you're going to have an outage, your team is going to make mistakes and take your customer down, your team will work on a change request that will exceed the change window, you're going to experience a force majeure event that will be completely out of your control. Setup a proper follow the sun support model Setup on-call & have mgt escalations available Patch, protect, and ID all your devices & staff Expect to be available 24x7 in unique situations Have good doco & set boundaries Accept that this is what you signed up for with this role and with it comes pros & cons that are manageable

1. Follow a clearly defined SLA or triage process to categorize incidents. 2. To focus on being a leader delegate any lower level tasks to team members. 3. Use effective time management and align tasks with business objectives. 4. Engage key stakeholders and the executive team to ensure priorities are aligned with C suite objectives.

Treat your team like a military unit. Put stronger people in the correct positions and ensure the team is performing. As a leader follow up on delegated tasks to ensure they are completed on time. Mentor or coach members on any issues they may encounter.

I prefer daily checklist. Prioritize what's most important, what can't wait, and work on those tasks first. Of course stuff comes up all the time, and some of it is urgent. Again, Prioritize. Add those items to your list. Stay on track. Don't let little tasks get you off your path. That should help complete highly visible tasks, and will give you time for your work home balance. Small tasks could be completed off hours or at the end of the work day. Block off time on the calendar for those important tasks, so you don't get distracted. If possible, plan ahead for the entire week, so it's easier to balance work home activities.

While a good ideal, I have not found this always to be a reality for many IT managers, as you hold the accountability for your team. I feel that if you have a good team, you can delegate or even rotate off hour responsility to a point, but not in all scenarios. When you are over worked, you can burnout or effect your health and family. Try to buy back your time with your leadership, by asking if you can take off early the following week, and then do something that is not work related that brings you joy. Even if it's that nap you desperately need from the overnight you pulled.