It's Time To End The Work Life Balance Myth
Robert Glazer
5X Entrepreneur, #1 WSJ & USA Today Bestselling Author, Top .1% Podcast Host and Keynote Speaker. Board Chair & Founder @ Acceleration Partners
People often talk about wanting work-life balance, but I don’t believe it is what they are really seeking; the concept itself is fundamentally unachievable. The notion of work life-balance implies that we have this perfect scale always in sync between our personal and professional responsibilities at any given time. Balance might conjure up an image of someone working from home on their laptop with a child on their lap. That's not what anyone really wants, that's compromise on both ends.
Many peoples’ concept of what a perfectly balanced professional and personal life looks like often leads to sub-par outcomes, disappointment and frustrations because its based on time allocation and trying to do too many things at once. In trying too hard to "balance" their schedule, they are checking off the boxes, but not getting the best outcomes due to an approach that is quantitative versus qualitative.
Rather than balance, what I believe we really want is the ability to be truly present in our work and in our lives outside work. We are seeking meaningful, uninterrupted, “all in” experiences at each end of the work/life spectrum, which will naturally cycle at different times. There often won't be balance within a week or a day and hours aren't the determinant of quality.
In the end, the goal is not “balance” in the traditional sense, it's a life that lets you integrate those pieces. Work-life integration is more akin to a puzzle where all the different pieces fit together in aggregate. It’s an understanding that each day or week might bring different combination of things to attend to at work or in your personal life, but they total a portfolio of quality experiences. It's not about the time itself, it's about being fully present and engaged in each of the pieces.
This is why we designed our culture at Acceleration Partners to offer the freedom and autonomy to achieve results for our clients while attaining personal goals and attending to inevitable life issues. For example, we’ve had several team members who have had to deal with an unexpected family illness or death and we’ve encouraged them to take the time they need in the way that works best for them. One took off specific days each week in order to be fully present when her mom had weekly appointments and wanted to work the other days and be held accountable. When she was at work, she was all in and a top performer. Another chose to take a few consecutive weeks off, so that she could be there at the end. What was balance for one was different for the other, but it allowed each to have no regrets.
Other examples include employees taking time during the traditional work day to train for a competition or shifting one’s hours to take a class or to travel to a new city. We actually see better work performance from this fulfillment outside of work, rather than them just working more hours.
For the next week, try and measure your success at home and at work by the amount of quality, uninterrupted experiences you are able to have rather than trying to find an unachievable balance. I believe you will feel more satisfied and accomplished all around.
Quote of the Week: “There is no such thing as work-life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.”- Alain de Botton
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Robert Glazer is the founder and CEO of Acceleration Partners, an award winning performance marketing agency ranked #4 on Glassdoor’s best places to work. Robert was also named to Glassdoor’s list of Top CEO of Small and Medium Companies in the US, ranking #2. Full bio and speaking inquires at www.robertglazer.com.
National Coordinator at Cheshire Homes South Africa
5 年In the past I have had to radically adjust my priorities to spend time with a terminally ill parent (twice) and have currently made a conscious decision to put work on the back burner to focus on my children who need my increased attention at the moment (times I won't ever be able to recreate in the future).? I agree with you Robert that its actually about being mindful and present in whatever we choose to be our focus at the time, but also making deliberate decisions to dial back on one area of life in order to give priority to another for a certain period.? I can always earn those millions later, but this time in my children's lives can never be replayed, and I know I won't regret my decisions.
Forensic Toxicologist / Chemist (Owner/Operator) at Parsons Forensic Consulting. Retired US Army Officer and Veteran.
5 年This post really explains it quite well. https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/6-things-you-dont-owe-your-boss-dr-travis-bradberry/?trk=eml-email_feed_ecosystem_digest_01-recommended_articles-11-Unknown&midToken=AQF0LHtrItjp2Q&fromEmail=fromEmail&ut=1P7x87MBXlt8A1
Work/life balance also works across years.? You work a lot more before retirement than after and maybe when you're younger too.? True balance would require 90 year olds to work the same number of hours as 22 year olds.
Vice President | Federal Client Manager
5 年I disagree with the title assertion that the notion of work life balance is a myth! I believe that many people who strive for what they refer to as work/life balance simply want a scenario where the scale is not tipped too far in one direction (usually work due to the American culture of how many hours are spent at work). I had jobs in my career that required me to consistently work 60-80 hours a week which I ultimately left to seek a job that afforded me more time to dedicate to my family and personal non-work related interests. I found such a job and was more happy at work and especially when away from work! The European work model has addressed this through much more vacation time for workers (6-8 weeks per year) and setting limits on hours required for work with some areas even restricting work email outside of those hours. The article says time is not a relative factor but how can that be if work responsibilities take so much time out of a persons day/week/month/year that they do not have time to live life outside of work??? This is not myth - it is reality for many!
Work life balance as described, is a nice concept,ehich encourages engagement at work st any operticler time eith all concentration and mind set to achieving ,rather than being physical on a job nd other things or bordens in ones mind. Am convinced, it allowed for quality nd quantity output