A good work-life balance requires self-, time, and stress management as well as an acceptable workload and reasonable deadlines. The responsibility should be shared between the employee and the work place.  

Some immediate advice:

• Avoid booking 100% of your time to ensure the possibility of short breaks during working hours. For instance, take short outdoor walks and get some daylight. Maybe you need just some time for reflection.
• Ensure you have time for training and leisure time to recover. Important is to signal to your supervisor/head/colleague when you experience too much or long period of stress.
• Avoid sending e-mails arriving late evenings or during weekends. 
• Group leaders are responsible for acting on signals of health issues, work-life imbalance or stress from any group member. The leaders also need to set good examples regarding their own work hours.
• The department must strive for supplying sufficient information and communication on routines and processes as well as ensuring proper introduction of new employees. Both the department and all employees have the responsibility of supporting a collaborative, communicative work environment and a culture of trust and mutual respect.

Finally, thanks for your contributions and feedback, very helpful for the continuous work on improving the workplace. Attached are the comments as they were submitted by e-mail, describing influential factors and ideas on all levels for a better work-life balance.

More information on work-life-balance, but also harassment and discrimination, can be found in the presentation held by MMK at the workshop, find it here.
Ulrike, Ulrika, Niklas and Kálmán
 

Submitted comments

• Tracking the hours (even an own Excel sheet) is very important
• Daily routine (when you come in, when you leave etc) helps
• Don't book 100% of your time
• Combining work and family can be challenging
• Try to mix different tasks to not get bored
• Learn to deliver good enough at selected tasks; avoid unnecessary perfection
• Set hard deadlines/limits to your work, such as a set lunch time, or picking up your dog from daycare before they close; that helps to organize your work.
• Good to have goal-based work rather than hour-based work, so you can plan what works best for you.
• We all have a responsibility to give feedback on if we’re stressed and have too many tasks already.
• Plan your days, work effective
• Prioritizing is important – family
• PhD with child: stick to working hours, plan the days, avoid working on weekends
• Decide what you want – how much you accept to work
• Select the right partner
• Get a hobby
• If you work a lot during a period – it is important to compensate for this in time, without bad conscious.
• Transparent dialogue with the supervisor about the work. Supervisor must help to support.
• Active secondary “supervisor” is important. (or consulting expert).
• Supervisors should discuss these matters.
• Reflect on balance.
• Limit the connection to work during vacation.
• Regular training is very important for mental health.
• Do not hesitate contacting “Feelgood” (Employee health)
• Organizing informal group activities outside of/independent from work, especially in groups where there are many foreigners and/or people work on projects that are not closely interlinked. This may help to create an atmosphere where it is easier to ask for help when needed.
• Important to actively do things (seminars, shared group tasks, informal activities, encourage a friendly climate, act early when an unpleasant or unhealthy climate starts forming such as gossip about group members, banter when not everybody appears comfortable with it) to make everybody feel like an appreciated member of the group as this helps to reduce internal competition which leads to overworking. Feeling safe in a group is a requirement for a good work-life balance.
• If individuals appear to work too long over extended periods of time – try to find out why without blaming or coming with easy solutions. Any solutions should be what that individual actually wants, otherwise it becomes a punishment that only adds more stress. Especially when someone regularly works extremely long hours the reasons can be rather sensitive and not necessarily purely work-related and is not something to be discussed in group meetings. You can’t be here after 18:00 is totally not a solution.
• Tasks outside someone’s project should be accounted for and fairly distributed between group members. “Fairly” does not necessarily mean that everybody gets the same amount to do at a given time. It should be seen as completely normal in a group that others take over such tasks if individuals are especially busy at some point or have other things in their life to deal with. It is the team leader who needs to encourage this.
• Avoid comparing people. Nobody should be presented as a reference for others regarding how much work can or should be done, how quickly work should be done, what can cause stress, what can relieve stress, how much and what distractions are acceptable (some people may be perfectly happy with another 6 office mates, others find this impossible to work in), how people cope with stress (work-related or otherwise)… It doesn’t help at all to be told that others are way better. Being presented as the good example can contribute to creating an internally competitive atmosphere (including for the “good example”) where nobody dares to appear weak or less than ideal in any way. This is not to be confused with thanking people and giving them adequate amounts of praise for achievements. 
• Group leader needs to set a good example. If the group leader regularly works very late the message is that this is also expected of the other group members. When regularly receiving mails late in the evening and on weekends the message is that responses are also expected at this time. Delayed sending may be an option. Group leaders should make clear that things can also wait if needed and that nobody is expected to jump instantly when asked to do something that is not really very urgent. Giving people a clear idea how urgent different tasks are helps to prioritise. It is not helping to tell group members that it’s not their problem if the group leader works too much. First of all, it can certainly create problems for everybody but it also suggests that if you really want to be someone you shouldn’t need help or at least not need any support to organize that help. While the group leader is the most important person to set a good example, everybody else plays a role too, therefore keeping a good work-life balance should be considered an aim for the whole group. This must not result in people hiding how much they work though. 
• Workloads can actually be too high. When people work too long it is very often because they have too much to do, not because they need an app to organize their work better or to remind them of taking a break. When someone mentions having too much work and is met with this kind of suggestions, then the message is that you have to manage whatever workload you get because if you work too long it’s your own fault.
• Always discuss with supervisor if you are feeling stressed. Frequent meetings where you can discuss your progress and decide on future plans can also help on that direction.
• Fix your own working hours. You have a flexible working hour plan, so you can include some activities etc. during, before or after work.
• Have a hobby. This will help you remove the stress of work. This can be done in collaboration with other members of your research team. A good idea is group activities.
• Join different communities, e.g. sports, music etc.
• Always remember that mental health is equally important to physical health.
• There is an imbalance in the groups that are normally big and not all the group’s members interests can be aligned. 
• Lack of direction can be problematic and interactions can become too formal.
• Supervisors are not familiar with some project can be compensated by their attitude openness.
• In competitive group, group leader reinforces policies to insure equal access to balanced opportunities. 
• And possibility of communication with the group leader to communicate shortcomings in the group. 
• Students should not over work and should have self determination not to get effected by the group pressure and not to over work.
• We mostly work in medium sized research groups
• Groups interact through group meetings focussed on the science, also open discussions around problems that work well
• Additionally, many informal meetings with fika, semlar, etc…
• These are highly valued
  • Sometimes perhaps too many meetings.
• Stress in different groups due to:
  • No clear schedule
  • Force students to take vacation
  • Courage people to take vacation
  • Child care: no meetings too early or too late
  • Check the time spent
  • Hire more people
  • Communications between researchers and administration
  • Student complains (talk with supervisors)
• Work life balance: Expectations from ”new” persons. The Swedish system is not hierarcy. They expect that the leaders/supervisors are easily accesible and easy to discuss the working/reasearch assignments. This expected to lead to a harmonic balance between work and private life.
• Experience from group members with longer SU experince. The flat organisation of SU working well, give a lot of independecy. Sometimes feedback from the leadership would be important. Deadlines and expectations can be stressful. 
• It is important to distribute the assigments equally. Exemption may lead to stressful frictions. Good planning may remove a lot of stress.
• Personal Growth and Stress Management: It's essential for individuals to strive for self-improvement and manage stress. While stress often originates at the individual level, seeking a personal equilibrium before seeking departmental assistance is prudent.
• Departmental Orientation: Introducing employees to departmental resources and information is pivotal. A well-informed workforce is equipped with the knowledge and tools necessary for effective functioning.
• Structural Support for Parenthood: Implementing structural provisions for employees with children is imperative. Such considerations demonstrate an organization's commitment to work-life balance and family-friendly policies.
• Effective Communication: Open lines of communication among colleagues are pivotal. Voicing concerns to colleagues who can provide support fosters a collaborative atmosphere, making it easier to address issues.
• Collective Problem Solving: Acknowledge that individual pressures exist, but solutions often emerge from collaborative efforts. By co-operating and openly communicating, early interventions can mitigate potential challenges.
• Research Group Dynamics: In smaller research groups, departmental support gains paramount importance, especially in areas like insurance systems that can offer critical protection.
• Council for Collective Responsibility: Establishing a departmental council fosters a sense of collective responsibility for example, PhD council. This forum encourages pooling ideas and collectively finding solutions to shared challenges.
• Balancing Work and Private Life: Administering work mobile phones can tangibly influence the work-life balance. Creating delineation between professional and personal spheres enhances overall well-being.
• Resource Allocation: Address situations where resources fall short, slowing down work progress. Departments can proactively support employees by ensuring sufficient resources are available, thereby maintaining productivity levels.