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I have learned after burning myself out and over-committing and under-delivering that I need to do 3 things when volunteering on top of a full time job. This is not experience related to being a board member but a volunteer. I’m currently a volunteer content specialist.
1. Know your number - how many hours can you devote and still work, take care of obligations outside of work, and take care of yourself. Map it out. No guilt, no shame, no judgement. Just an honest, helpful number. My number is 20 hours a month. Other people have more hours, other people have less hours. And mine has changed over time.
2. Share your boundaries up front. How much time you have, how/when they can call on you for help. If they say they don’t know how many hours they’ll need, ask for a trial period for 1 or 2 months. They’ll see you’re committed but it gives you a graceful exit if it isnt working.
3. Finally, try to do something you enjoy or want to learn more about. I love writing, creating graphics, and interviewing people, so it gives me energy most of the time (editing takes my energy away though 😆). But the role is a great balance overall for me.
These include personal examples but find what makes you function best!
Yes I do volunteer on nonprofit board on top of FT job. It can get hard to balance. I dont know that I have good advice tbh
Yes, and some companies certainly make it easier than others. There are actually quite a few that will double your contributions to charities as well, but volunteering your time to help people out can actually be a very good business strategy for getting your foot in the door with a not-for-profit establishment. Just remember to put your actual job first (at least until you find something that you would rather be doing)
Not consulting, but I do some volunteer work for clients at times. I would recommend that you keep a very highly detailed list of what you do when you are volunteering, because you never know what new skills you can learn, and you should absolutely add them to your resume!
I do some volunteering at the assisted living facility in my hometown, they house people with severe psychological issues and trauma. A lot of times they just need someone to sit in the same room as them. It really isn't difficult and it helps you learn more about the human condition as a whole, plus it gives you practice in a real world situation, so much different from learning about something in a textbook
Balancing the two can be challenging, but it is achievable with a bit of creativity and a lot of organization. I like to think of the different tasks at hand as their project and break them down into smaller components or subprojects that I can tackle one at a time.
I'm also doing non-profit consulting and volunteering on top of my full-time job, so I totally understand the struggles of balancing the two. It hasn't been easy for me, but I've found a few tricks to make sure that everything gets done.
I mean, if you're choosing to get involved in a non profit on top of your full time I think you're sacrificing having a good balance between the two things as a given
Chinse on sleep and exercise honestly