WORK-LIFE BALANCE

Work-life balance?is one topic that comes up across all the places I have visited.?By many accounts,?Work-life balance?is prioritizing and balancing professional and personal activities. This entire debate starts from the pretext that.?

1. Work-life balance applies homogeneously to everyone.

2. Work is a soulless parallel activity to life and not part of it.

3. It limits people from enjoying life and is thus a hindrance.

4. It is a one-sided affair with employees as aggrieved parties and employers as wrongdoers.

The importance of this topic makes it vital to examine the pretext itself.?

It is your life you decide what is best for you.

We must acknowledge that all people are different, having their own goals, aspirations, and priorities. The most important thing for some is family; for some, professional growth; for others, wealth, fame; and so on.?

During my professional years, I worked with numerous people from different countries, states, ethnicities, walks of life, etc., each with distinct individuality, aspirations, belief systems, and outlooks. However, when it came to professional ambitions, people could be grouped into a few buckets.??

Contended ones:?These people have limited aspirations to climb the professional ladder. Money for many is only to take care of necessities, and they are usually risk averse. Such individuals are the perfect choice for any work that needs to be done repeatedly for a long period with complete concentration. Such people bring perfection to the activity they do. The majority of people in this group work by the clock. The diversity in this group is impressive as many are contended by nature, and some had family/personal reasons leading to suppressing their ambitions. Some people in this group, when pushed, excelled professionally.??

Most of the happiest people I met come from this group.?

Ambitious & hard workers:?The number of people in this group is significantly less, but such people usually work hard and push themselves regularly, helping them to expand their professional capabilities. The time they put into work knows no bounds. Such people are self-motivated and seldom require supervision. The majority of go-getters fall into this group. For people in this group, it is a must to plan their careers and acquire the skills and qualifications needed to climb the ladder. Unfortunately, I have witnessed many bright stars fade in time because they did not plan their career. The most successful people in this group have extremely happy family lives because they spend quality time rather than quantity alone.??

Ambitious people with many priorities:?These happy-go-lucky people are ambitious but carry plenty of priorities on their backs. Their high energy level gets dissipated in managing different activities. For them, everything is a must. For this reason, most of them rarely go up the ladder. They usually require supervision and motivation at regular intervals as they have very high wandering tendencies. People in this group are prone to frustrations, dejections, and unhappiness because, usually, high ambition is not backed by dedication and hard work.??

Each group's definition of work-life balance is different, and they must decide as per their need. People move from one group to another during the course of life. Sometimes by choice and a few other times because of circumstances beyond their control.??

To explain the above points in relatable terms, let's take any organization, irrespective of their field. They will have a triangular structure with more people at the bottom and very few at the top. If it is so, then there must be some extra effort put in by people to reach the top. A student aspiring to get into IIT, IIM, UPSC, etc, must put everything they have if they intend to qualify. Anyone wanting to play at the highest level must push themselves to the edge of endurance. Reaching their desired goal takes sacrifices, untiring preparations, and strenuous effort. Similarly, in professional life, people have to consistently put in hard work to upgrade their skills, knowledge, and qualifications, besides proving their worth time and again to go up the ladder.?

Louis Pasteur's famous dictum?"Chance favor's prepared minds"?has stood the test of time.??

Work is part of life.

Even though work and personal life are distinct, it is essential to acknowledge that they are part of our lives. One's job/work does not sit on a remote island. Most of our professional or personal aspirations are linked to work and fulfilled by it. Irrespective of what you do, you can make it an enriching part of your life by getting fully involved. Half measures create ambiguity, and ambiguity results in inconvenience, thus making it feel like a burden/soulless activity.

It is an equally valid argument that the technologies created to liberate us have entered our homes, thus blurring the distinction between office and personal space. On numerous occasions, these make people feel overwhelmed, and rightly so. The best way to deal with them is to develop a recreational activity as it helps one to deal with anxiety and stress effectively, besides staying away from distractions, especially social media. Taking breaks not only rejuvenates but also improves productivity manifolds.?

However, if one feels the work is a burden and finds it difficult to get fully involved, it is time to move on and join the job that interests you.?

Choosing a career based on your interests can help you experience satisfaction, even if it pays less. It enables one to live well.??

It limits people from enjoying life and is thus a hindrance.

Looking at the jobs from the prism of Nine to Five times invariably makes one feel like one is in hell, leading to finding an escape route. The genesis of this is quality of life, a measure of happiness. It is a highly subjective matter and varies based on personal preferences. They often include various factors, including financial security, health, family, safety, and job satisfaction.??

For many, work to them is as vital as water to fish. For such people, the Intellectual challenge their work brings gives a purpose to their lives. The learning opportunities it brings after coming into professional life are immense. It allows & on numerous occasions forces us to meet new people from different cultures & work in a group consisting of diverse people. In all, the right job and family complement each other.??

It is essential to acknowledge that our learning abilities are much higher when young, besides having high energy levels and carrying limited liabilities/responsibilities. It makes it crucial to work harder early in one's career. The more we learn early in our career, the better our chances of progression. As we age, our learning abilities and energy levels go southwards, and responsibilities go northwards.?

However, it is equally important to acknowledge that many monotonous, physically challenging, risk-prone jobs (like miners, sewage and garbage cleaners, construction workers, etc) are done to earn a living. In many such cases, these can be emotionally draining. Such jobs must be covered by regulations mandating working hours. Also, such places must have centres to deal with emotional stress, which at times leads to depression.??

Employers

It becomes equally essential here to touch the topic from the employer's perspective. In a career spanning over 25 years, I have worked in different organizations with their unique cultures, belief systems, and goals. All the organizations had a mixture of contended, ambitious, and happy-go-lucky people. It is a myth that a team with all ambitious people is the best thing to happen; similarly, a company made up only of contended people would lack the aggression to grow. For this reason, having the right mix becomes crucial as each brings unique values to the table.??

Many studies have revealed that employees who can balance their work and personal life are much more productive. For this reason, most heads focus on their employees' welfare and ensuring they get time to spend with their families or do what they like, as it leads to better morale, lower attrition, attracting talent, and, above all, better productivity. However, few managers carry a notion of equating long hours to productivity, which is far from the truth.?

The grain of all institutions is to keep excelling in their respective field to remain relevant. This is why all organizations/institutions invariably do their best to intake, retain, and promote talents with a burning desire to achieve and overachieve continuously. Such actions inadvertently result in a rat race among peers at large, leading to dejections, burnouts, depression, etc; among people.??

Ultimately, it is not the institution but individuals driven by their ambition/aspirations or responsibilities who decide on their goals and chart a path for themselves. We live by the consequences of our choices; one must be graceful enough to accept them.??

Conclusion

Family is a bond that brings love, affection and, most importantly, belongingness. Everyone, at some point in their life, goes through a tough time when everything turns against them; even at such times, it is one's family that stands with them like a rock of strength. The family members' encouragement counts the most for achieving success in professional life. They have all the rights and one's responsibility to make them feel proud. We owe our success to them.? ?

Besides, the importance of a regular flow of income in our lives is unquestionable. Our aspirations, dreams, and goals are linked to our financial conditions. Money alone does not bring happiness but can surely bring comfort and financial security, thus creating the right environment.??

Looking at a job only for the sole purpose of earning sets a trap for self-misery. As advocated in all the above points, a career by itself, if done correctly and with the right intention, can be highly satisfying and complementing to one's family's happiness.