Does work life balance improve with time?

Fantastic question!

The short answer - if you are savvy you can have a good work life balance over time otherwise NO :). Plunge in and work hard in the early days (1-2 years) while you are learning and building your reputation.

By savvy I mean the following well executed moves. You will need all of or most of below to make work-life balance work:

1. Staying in the firm for at least 3 years and having a good reputation (across levels-analysts all the way upto partner) & high on the job performance
2. Being close to key senior managers/directors/partners who are high performing themselves and back you
3. Staying on the same one/two clients for multiple projects
4. Having key clients back you and wanting you on the projects
5. Having a network of poeple to call upon for favours- these are colleagues/peers/seniors you are willing to help you out, share a load, cut you some slack etc etc

Now, here are the life lessons I have learnt on work-life balance:

1. You need to have a clear plan for yourself, otherwise work & people will totally consume you. You draw the line on work not intruding your personal space (leisure time, weekends etc). Learn to say NO subtly and tactfully
2. Dont follow the crowd- if everyone is or appears to be slogging, you don't have to. Be yourself, believe in yourself and follow points 1-5 above
3. Focus on doing your best, enjoy the process and dont worry about the outcome. Things fall into place
4. Keep talking to people (specially senior people) on their perceptions of you! People forget easily over time. Be visible a lot!

Hi,

There are several factors that can improve worklife ballance:

• Becoming more expereinced / getting things done faster - that usually happens after a certain number of projects
• Staying on the same client for many projects in a row - probably the best strategy
• Becoming a partner:)

However, in any case, your work-life ballance will be still quite bad, just better get used to that

Best

Hi A!

It does. The higher your tenure, the more flexibility you'll gain, as you're dictacting your own schedule. You'll not necessarily work less, but you can more and more choose when you're working. 

But tbh, this materializes notably only once you'll become a manager, so ~6 years into a consulting career.

It depends.

I know people who have managed it successfully. However, I would strongly that it only ever becomes less bad or manageable...best case scenario.

Even the project leads, principals, partners I know who technically have "made it" in terms of work-life balance, still work 70 hours a week. What they've really managed to do is life with the new life demands.

So, yes, you "accept" your lack or work-life balance more. You probably learn to push back a bit more, take the breaks where needed, etc. However, you still never have a "normal" work-life balance and the stress/demands of clients with always be front and center!

It really comes down to you but generally speaking, no. Typically there is a sweetspot during the second half of your tenure in each role with the learning curve and experience but then you get pushed outside your comfort zone again for progression. There is also more flexiblity as you progress and become more senior but lifestyle doesn't improve dramatically where variation is driven by the individual and their choices in terms of clients, industry, geography, functional topics, working style, etc.

Hello!

In shot: totally depends on the person. 

Usually someone who worked crazily did so not because his/her bosses told them to do so, but because there was high value in it for them. 

Hence, this auto-crunchers will continue to crunch themselves and their teams when put in a position of power. 

Hope it helps

Cheers,

Clara

Yes,

with time, if you get higher position, you can choose.

Also, your work-life balance can improve if you work on it conciously.

Cheers,

GB

Yes, I am a good example.