Achieving Work-Life Balance as a Management Consultant: Tips for Success

As a management consultant, it's essential to understand the typical work schedule and set priorities in order to maintain a healthy work-life balance. A 1-hour lunch break is usually not included, but you may take an hour at night for dinner or a taxi ride to a hotel. The data reveals that the oldest consultants in a company work, on average, less overtime, which highlights the need for consultants to familiarize themselves with a new environment. The working hours of consultants vary depending on the industry.

Banking activity tends to be at the most intense extreme, while mining, where working hours are regulated for safety reasons, tends to be at the opposite extreme. To help consultants achieve a better work-life balance, some consulting firms and local offices have implemented the “one night off a week” policy. This allows consultants to have time to dedicate themselves to their personal interests or rest. Groups of consultants in similar situations meet to share experiences and best practices in order to maintain work-life balance.

Consulting firms are also increasingly implementing policies that provide consultants with the space they need to take time off from work to relax and recharge. However, there is almost no downtime in consulting, which means that you will rarely be able to go for a 30-minute coffee, make important phone calls, or go to the pharmacy to buy the deodorant you need. To be as efficient as possible and manage a job that consumes a lot of time, it is important to pay attention to some points during your time as a consultant. The nature of the work forces consultants to demonstrate a strong commitment to work, as clients must meet project deadlines and internal work increases the workload.

Women tend to work one hour less overtime per week than men at the junior levels, and two and four hours less at the senior management and management levels, respectively. For those who are still struggling to reconcile their work and private life, here are some tips for achieving a better work-life balance as a management consultant:

• Set Priorities: It's almost obvious that consultants can't have a challenging professional career, an active social life, and have time to prepare for marathons, cook for a family, and sleep through the night.
• Take Advantage of Policies: Take advantage of policies such as “one night off a week” that allow you to have time for yourself.
• Share Experiences: Join groups of consultants in similar situations and share experiences and best practices in order to maintain work-life balance.
• Reduce Workload: Reduce your workload by working on projects that require less (time) or by taking unpaid leave between two projects.

Maintaining a healthy work-life balance is essential for any management consultant. By setting priorities and taking advantage of policies such as “one night off a week”, sharing experiences with other consultants in similar situations, and reducing workloads when possible, it is possible for management consultants to achieve success both professionally and personally.