WORK & LIFE & BALANCE

An Unnatural Myth ...

Most organisations, big or small, have a true desire to help people achieve and maintain a ‘work/life balance'.

But it's an almost impossible task, and here's why....

The very name itself asks you to achieve the impossible.?

Work is busy. Keeping anything perfectly balanced is hard. Any slight variant will send things tipping. Life changes. The world changes. Always. There are emails, meetings, changing roles and leadership, shifting markets, internal politics, customer challenges, and shareholder demands.

But people try...

There's talk of the benefits of maintaining a healthy focus on their personal lives. "Once I walk through the door at home, I leave my work at the office"… Until the phone chimes or you just check that one important email.

And workplaces try...

Time in lieu, ‘culture first’ workplaces, remote and hybrid options, a desirable employee value proposition and more. Even governments have passed ‘right to disconnect’ legislation to help promote balance.

However, it very soon becomes clear that only a handful of people can achieve true, so called, ‘Work/Life Balance’.

So don’t set yourself up to fail. You will always be in danger of disappointing yourself, family, friends, colleagues and others because of factors well outside of your control.

Therefore … what to do?

1. Know what inspires you...?

Articulate and remain true to what commonly inspires you both personally and professionally. This helps you to be continually energised, for yourself and for others, around what you are doing.

2. Manage your own life as a whole....

Regularly check-in around where you are. Check-in around WHY things are the way they are. If your life is out of step with who you are and what's happening around you, it should be self-evident.

If you continually have things which don't inspire you both personally and professionally – try to develop an alternative approach or mindset. Be prepared to make big decisions in this process – this is hard but the reward is great.

An important footnote ...

Sometimes people need to face realities in their lives. Often, they don’t have much room to make major decisions, particularly around their work. It might be a financial commitment, a family situation or a geographical restraint.

And that's ok, that's life. The secret is to constantly monitor your situation so when your world changes, you too can adjust quickly. This will help you maintain a sense of inspiration and purpose, and avoid being ‘stuck on a treadmill’.