Firstly, it is important to try to understand the
concept of work-life- balance.
Generally, balance occurs when there is an equal
distribution of weight or amount. Therefore, work life balance can mean equal
weight on ‘both’ sides, which in turn implies that work is on one side while
life is on another.
For most,
this is often about the desire to spend less time ‘working’, in order to
create more time for ‘living’. So, what is the right balance?
 |
8:8:8: 8hours work; 8hours life; 8hours sleep (Yes
humans still need sleep). Remember Teddy Pendergrass’s ‘50:50 love’ kind of
thing.
 |
Time
tilted towards work –i.e. work has eaten into life or The opposite – i.e. a lot
more time on your hands to live life.
This is from
the perspective of Time.
However,
there is also a Psychological dimension
to balance. This is about the stability of
body and mind. Before exploring this further, let’s take a quick step back in
time.
‘Work’ -
back then
Once upon a time, workers had no business connecting
with work until they were physically present, and employers did not expect much
more either. Henry Ford purportedly wondered: “why is it every time I ask for a
pair of hands, they come with a brain attached?”
Also, while at work, life stopped – No phone
calls, No 24hours news flashes, No social media, No WhatsApp, FB, or Snap (must
sound like a horror movie to all digital natives). ‘Life’ began when work ended and vice versa. A very
clear solid line!
Fast Forward
to today - The Age of Acceleration
Work-life dynamics today is totally different.
The mobile phone in your hand is where you live and living comprises: work,
play, learning, entertainment, giving - to your favorite charities. All of these
are location agnostic.
So, work can now be done while living life,
and life can be lived while working.
In this age of acceleration, can we still afford
to continue thinking in compartments? Seems a bit anachronistic to me – i.e.
applying 20th century thinking in a 21st century context.
Paradigm
Shift
A paradigm shift in attitude is required to change
the narrative and avoid our story ending in “and she lived unhappily ever
after”.
1. For a start, work is part of life – in which case,
it need not be placed into its own distinct compartment.
2. Balance need not be seen just in terms of Time,
there is also psychological balance which takes into account the four
dimensions of human needs: Physical (body), Mental (mind), Social (heart) and
Soul (spiritual).
 |
3.The attributes needed for both work and life are
blurring. Take emotional intelligence – this used to be a no, no in a macho
corporate world – seen as ‘soft’ stuff reserved for family and friends.
Everyone knows better now. It works like magic at work!
Given the above, there are somee questions to
ponder:
·
Can we still
afford to think in terms of strict trade-offs?
·
Are we able
to leave work at work and home at home?
Work-Life Harmony – The
Jazz Band Approach
Perhaps it is time to embrace the concept of Work Life
Harmony.
Please don’t get me wrong! We all still need to
unwind. By all means, take a holiday, grab
‘me’ times, get some sound sleep, socialize with friends, spend time on family
matters & of course, don’t forget your meditative time (spirituality).
Absolutely! Must, Must, Must!
However, should these be in separate compartments
with solid walls?
Definitely not!
The quest should be how to achieve horizontal
harmony in all aspects of life. Just
like the jazz band, - all the tunes of our different instruments should sound
in harmony to create beautiful life melodies.
The search is now about how to tune the notes of our
work and life into beautiful melodies, how to introduce new notes and weed out notes
that are now out of tune. The focus
being always on harmony.
So here are the choices:
Either we continue expending valuable energy
trying to balance the un-balanceable and live unhappily ever after, like the Tragicomedy in
which two characters spent their lives waiting for Godot who never turned up (Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett).
Or
We embrace work-life harmony. This involves enjoying
the journey knowing that the journey can be as thrilling [or even more so] than
the destination [often unknown]. Every
moment should count.
Think of the Japanese concept of living in the
moment (ichigo, ichie). An understanding
that every gathering is unique, and cannot occur again. That way, everyone
appreciates it fully and participates with true sincerity. This is what is
meant by "one time, one meeting”.
Epilogue
1. Do what you love.
2. If you cannot do what you love, learn to love
what you do
3. If neither applies - recipe for unhappiness.
So quit and start again.
4. We are all jugglers. In juggling, some balls will drop at some point. Be
ready for this.
5. All balls are not equal at all times – a critical one today may be less
so tomorrow. Therefore, spend time to decipher your critical ball(s) at any
given time and keep an eye on them.
6. Find a third place – we all need one. It is that place that is nearly as
comfortable as home and work but gives you breathing and thinking space. You
may find this in the workplace or your home. But find it anyway.
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