Time and how we management it is a daily struggle for everyone. Sometimes, it is argued that time is more valuable than money. Dr. Dawna Ballard is a Communication Studies professor at The University of Texas at Austin and is an expert in chronemics which is the study of time in human communication. Dr. Ballard spoke at SXSW in 2016 where she talked about debunking three myths related to time and work. This led her to create this year’s session about finding that alignment between the two. Since time is not a problem, its about finding the proper relationship between time, work, and personal life. The balance is key.

Dr. Ballard’s session comes at a pivotal time in research as she has spent the past two decades researching chronemics and has since developed a plan to help people find the proper relationship between the two and how to cultivate it. Her research marries theoretical work with recent field research with individuals who have some of the most difficult, important, under-resourced, and time-constrained work on the planet. As someone who has spoken multiple times on this topic, Dr. Ballard created this session as an answer to the question she gets most frequently: what are the steps to applying this to your life? She encourages everyone to attend this session particularly those who “want to find a different path toward being both productive and maintaining their commitment to all of the important parts of their lives.”

Dr. Ballard hopes audiences walk away with “practical steps to shift their relationship with time and bring the various parts of their personal and professional lives into conversation and alignment with each other.”

Wednesday, March 14th
12:30pm – 1:30pm
FAIRMONT MANCHESTER B

Find out more: It’s Time: Find Alignment & Abandon Work-Life Balance

Featured image provided by Dr. Dawna Ballard