believed in. It was my soapbox for
many years. I could rattle off all the statistics as to why it was important;
give you worksheets to show you how to do it properly, and hound you
relentlessly if you didn’t do it the way research (and I) said it should be
done. That was until I realised that work/life balance was a total crock! The notion of work/life balance and all its ramifications was designed to make us feel more guilty than we needed to.
And I have been reminded of this issue over the past few weeks when working with my mentor clients, and again during lunch today with my colleague. My clients are shocked when I tell them that work/life balance is really just a marketing tool and nothing more. My lunch date was on the same page as me, and agreed totally. So there we were having a great conversation about what the concept of work/life balance meant for each of us.
We started with this; Is there such a thing as work/life balance, and what if instead, we looked at it as simply balance – nothing more and nothing less? And that you were able to define what this meant for you and only you. How does that feel?
For me, balance is feeling contented at the end of the day, knowing that I’ve done the best I can for myself, my family, and my clients. To me , it means that it’s okay when I need to work twelve hour days to finish off a campaign. It means that the three hours I might do on a Saturday morning, is fine. And the reason it is fine, is because I will balance it out at the other end making sure I take the time out to connect with my family – this could be as simple as finishing early on some days, or heading away for a long weekend.
For Jen, it means that when she doesn’t finish a meeting with clients until after 7pm on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, she is able to balance this out by finishing early on Thursday or Friday and picking the kids up from school and focusing solely on them for a few hours. She has the support of her family, keeps them updated on what she is doing, and checks in regularly with how her children feel when Mum may not be there for dinner. Jen has learnt not to feel guilty about creating the life she wants for herself, because as she said: “I’m a happier wife and mother, when I'm able to create my own life balance.”
What does it mean for you? Are you able to create a balanced lifestyle based on your terms or do the well meaning people in your life make you feel guilty for doing what is right for you?
Feel free to send me through your thoughts on balance, and what it means to you.
Comments
misused and misunderstood, which often happens when ideas move from
academia to consultants and workplaces. The misconception with
work/life balance is often that people think they need to leave work
at a fixed time and use an extensive diary system to balance all of
life. It is balance, pure and simple as you say, at an individual
level. In fact, academia is now referring to it more generally as
'well-being'. A person's well-being is determined by many factors,
such as the balance that you refer to. So, next time you think of
balance, perhaps it is best to think of well-being. What gives you a
a sense of well-ness?
I don't believe it is achievable in private (tried it). Either, yes, you can be flexible, and you end up doing jobs that no one in the firm wants it - or - you manipulate others (ie. your subordinates) to do your job for you, under the disguise of delegation. Sorry - that sounds really harsh and nasty, eh?
both day by either coming into work later or finishing early. I believe that work life balance was often talked about in terms of time vs calendar. Everything had to be according to a clock. This certainly do not work for me and I much prefer to put in one
or two extra hours just to finish a task and then give my family my full attention. Oh and for the record I work in the ory re sector and the flexibility and balance is very easy to achieve.