Work Life Balance is a fraud. I don’t like the term work life balance as a working principle for work and life. Our work lifestyles have changed with remote work. We don’t have clear boundaries of in-office and out-of-office anymore.
The biggest problem is I don’t think my life looks like each category of work and non work life is given equilibrium to create balance. The term work life balance assumes a sort of perfect harmony between work and non-work activities that exists ongoing.
But the reality is that work and non-work activities overlap, run together, and at times one takes precedent over the other.
To those of us that work is a “give us this day our daily bread” kind of trust, the relationship status is most often “it’s complicated”.
I prefer the idea of synergy when it comes to my work and life. Synergy is defined as “producing a combined effect greater than the sum of their separate effects”. Work life synergy seems healthier to me because it focuses on the whole and gives room for seasons where some categories of life outweigh other categories. And so I prefer to look at all categories of life not as individual silos but as opportunities for healthy rhythms and margin.
For example, with some jobs you need to hustle more, bootstrap. Is there balance in this season? Probably not. It might not be sustainable long term but it’s necessary for the time being.
Other times, in the creative economy, you might be in-between jobs. Enjoy more time with your family in those seasons. Go on vacation if you can. But spend more time with those you love because you have the bandwidth for it.
In every season, I look to create rhythms that are sustainable.
And I assess where a little more margin can be attained when it is needed, much like a little more butter or salt can add life to any food that needs a little bit more.
Ultimately, we are all required to manage our own time, money, and resources while also doing our best for our employers and clients.
There is no perfect harmony in work and non-work life. It is always changing, flexing. How you think about your life and your work matters. Forget trying to create balance and pursue healthy rhythms and margin knowing that seasons will come and go and sustainability doesn’t always look like balance. In order to access your work and life, you need to create the space to reflect and course correct quarterly, annually, and as you go.