Finding Your Work-Life Harmony

Hi, I’m David Timis and my mission in life is to prepare people for the future of work.?

In this week’s edition of the newsletter the theme revolves around work-life balance, which in my view is a flawed way to look at the relationship between our work and our life. The idea of balance in itself implies a tradeoff - taking a little bit from one area (e.g. work) and putting it in the other (e.g. life), in order to keep things afloat. And these adjustments that we constantly need to make in order to keep balance can rapidly become exhausting. However, from my perspective, our inability to hold competing parts of ourselves together (work, self, others) in a more integrated way stems not from an inability to keep balance, but from trying too hard to optimise something that is not meant to be optimised in the first place. Life, like the ocean, can be calm and still or stormy and agitated depending on the day, and what a skilled sailor would do would be to go with the flow and not against it. Sometimes we will be fully immersed in our work, at other times we will be fully present with our family and/or friends. The secret lies not in constantly trying to balance the two, because life, like the ocean, is unpredictable, something comes up at work that requires our attention or a family member gets sick and we need to take care of him, so we should aim for finding harmony. Below are some insights and thoughts that will help you find your work-life harmony.

Timeless Insight

“When you work on something you love, you never think in terms of work-life balance.” – Shane Parrish?

Work-life balance is a term borrowed from the industrial age that was better suited for factory workers on the production line, who had a standard, 9-5 working week. Nowadays, work is moving towards flexible working arrangements in which one’s performance is not correlated with the amount of time he/she spends in the office, but with the deliverables he/she produces, regardless if it’s from an office, from a café or from the beach. Moreover, work is moving towards fulfilment, meaning that more and more people have realised, especially during the pandemic when their work has been reduced to its most basic form, that work shouldn’t be a cause of suffering, on the contrary, it should bring us fulfilment. When you find yourself dreading Mondays and craving holidays that could be an indication that you’re not really enjoying the work that you do and/or the organisations you do it for.? What you want to do if you’re in this situation is either to change your job and/or your employer (in some cases you might like the employer and just need to change your role), or take some time off from work (if your savings allow it) to figure out what you love to do. Once you align your life with doing what you enjoy to do, then what feels like work to some will feel like play to you. Work shouldn’t be drudgery and life outside of work a mere relief. Work should be fun and it should represent an area of your life that gives you meaning, that energises you. Break free from the constant struggle of finding your work-life balance!

Food for Thought?

With 2023 just a month and a half away, most employers are pushing their employees to ‘leave everything on the pitch’, to borrow a cliché more commonly used in football/soccer, in order to reach their quarterly and annual goals. No wonder there is usually an increase in the number of people suffering from work-related burnout during this time of the year. So, this is a good moment to learn best practices on how to protect your work-life harmony.?

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to finding an ideal work-life harmony, but there are some steps you can take in order to feel like you are at peace both at home and at work. When you are happy at work, you come home feeling more energised and vice versa, when you are happy at home, you perform better at work. That feeling of happiness, of presence enables you to become a better husband/wife, a better dad/mom, a better colleague.

Inspired by this newsletter my manager shared with our team, I’ve put together five steps that will help you find your work-life harmony and be at peace with yourself and others:?

1. Set boundaries with apps - While I am an early bird that likes to wake up at 7am during the week, and 8am on the weekend (if I haven’t been staying up late the night before), my rule is that I won’t open my WiFi to check messages and emails until I finish working out and eating breakfast. If I have an important project to deliver on that day I zone out completely and won’t turn on any app on my phone until the job is done. This way I fully leverage the time of the day when my brain is at its peak productivity and creativity.?

2. Adjust your calendar - I work in a global team that is spread across 5 continents and so, when I wake up around half of my colleagues are still asleep, given the time difference. Therefore, I use the first part of the day (9am-2pm) when my productivity and creativity are at their peak for focused work, and the second part of the day (2pm-7pm) for calls. This way I finish most of the work I need to do before I jump into any calls or go to any meetings, which makes me more present with my colleagues and have more bandwidth to help them.

3. Take breaks - As someone who has a hard time mentally logging off from work, given that I feel passionate about what I do for a living, what works best for me is to put a timer close to my desk and set an alarm to go off every hour, to make sure I take a break. Sometimes that break can be very short (5-10 minutes), just getting up and going to the kitchen to make myself a cup of tea or getting down on the floor and doing 20 push-ups, anything that can help me get a quick stretch and disconnect from work for a little while.?

4. Be honest about your workload - If you can’t get those looming deadlines out of your head even after clocking out, you’re likely taking on too much work. Admitting that you’re overworked is the first step in finding a solution. Suffering in silence will not help anyone. So, next time you feel that your to-do list at work is getting longer than your shopping list, it’s perhaps time to speak with your manager about it and find ways to either delegate some of your work, or if that’s not possible, at least to stop having new tasks sent your way.

5. Start a conversation about the work-culture in your organisation - If your coworkers are consistently working odd hours and rarely taking time off to disconnect, you may feel bad for leaving work early or closing your laptop at 6pm (as you should!). However, instead of feeling guilty, you can start a conversation about the work-culture in your organisation. First you should speak with your manager and/or direct reports, and if you feel that they share similar sentiments, you should approach the management and spark a discussion.??

Article of the Week?

The Three Marriages: Reimagining Work, Self and Relationship

Caricature of the Week

Source: Condé Nast

Thank you for reading and keep on growing!

David

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