Wow, not so fast. Before jumping into the question above, let’s answer this question first: What does work-life balance actually mean? How about defining “work” as a start and from there move on to what “life” means. And what about “balance”?
See the problem?
When we ask that question of what work-life balance means, a myriad of definitions come back as the answers. Some even conflicting with each other. That is because work-life balance is something personal for each of us and thus everyone defines it differently. Without a clear definition, how do we go about its existence and resolve the issues surrounding it?
Work and life
Isn’t work a part of life? It surely is. But do we treat them as one? Rarely. In fact, we traditionally see work and life as opposite forces. “Work” is something we do in the office, from Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. While “life” is anything outside of work. Therefore, it is a zero-sum game. More work means less life and vice versa.
Balance
In the zero-sum game of work-life balance, the term “balance” often refers to that fixed equilibrium of 50:50. While this may sound quantitatively rational, it makes little sense from a qualitative point of view because a work-life balance is beyond quantitative measures on how we split our time between work vs life. It is not about things being equal but instead about prioritization of what is important to us. Hence, everybody’s “balance” is dictated by personal context, which can change, and it does, all the time.
WFO, WFH, WFA; which one?
Are any of the above better in terms of a work-life balance? The answer is: it’s complicated. We learned the hard way during the pandemic that a lot of work can be done from home or remotely. Some embrace working from home (WFH) as the way to go because it means they do not have to commute to the office and the time saved can be used towards “life”. However, some would say that bringing work home means no separation between “work” and “life”. So instead, they prefer to go back to working from the office (WFO). Inevitably, for every supportive argument toward WFO or WFH, there will be counter arguments. Hence, the choice of WFO, WFH, or working from anywhere (WFA) will not solve the work-life balance issues.
Managing expectations
So, does work-life balance exist? Sure! But it is not in the way that many of us expect it to be. A work-life balance will not be achieved by passively expecting companies to carve out a perfect HR policy for employees. With so much debate on the subject, any company policy is bound to be unsatisfactory for some.
It will not be achieved by splitting our time according to some kind of formula either. These time formulas are not helpful in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world where frequent adaptations are required.
What we can do instead is to proactively manage our circumstances so that we are closer to our desired work-life balance. This requires a deeper understanding of our way of working, our life preference and the trade-off we are willing to make. Trade-offs as “having it all” is really challenging, if not downright impossible; make no mistake. Life is anything but static, what works today may not work tomorrow.
Work-life integration
A change of mindset is the first step in our search for a work-life balance. It might be the hardest step, though. Till date, our mind is so used to thinking that work and life are competing. No, they are not. We only have one life and that includes work. When we stop thinking of work and life as two conflicting items and start seeing them as complimentary, our view will shift into integrating the two. No more zero-sum games.
Optimization is key. Knowing what we want to get out of life (including work) will serve as the principal guidance with which we make prioritization. And since everyone has different life goals, nobody will choose the exact same way to integrate their work and life. It will surely be unique to individual situations.
Because, why not? It’s our life, isn’t it?
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