There is no set formula to obtain work-life balance. What works for one will work for everyone. Therefore, you should not expect one’s work-life balance to remain the same all throughout his life. It is also likely to change when she reaches the age of 50 and her kids are all off to school, leading their own lives. However, that balance will be different once she reaches her 30s and she has a family of her own. A fresh graduate from college will have a specific work-life balance at that time. That means that the work-life balance may also change. Work-life balance is not fixed at all time. “Balanced” does not necessarily mean equal. In fact, this can be very stifling, since your work and life will have to adhere to a certain schedule or timetable, where everything is strictly the same, or equal. Does that mean that you should also spend as much time – 8 hours – playing? Not really. Let us say that you spend 8 hours of the day working. Work-life balance does not mean having equal amounts of each. Work will still be distinct as work, and play will remain recognizable as play. It does not necessarily mean that the lines will be blurred, such that you’d no longer be able to distinguish work from play, and vice versa. This may be the first assumption one would make once they read what Paul Krassner said about work-life balance referring to work and play having very little separation. MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT WORK-LIFE BALANCE Work-life balance does not mean that both blend as one. When you were able to achieve something at work, doing a job that you enjoy doing. When you were able to achieve and enjoy something for yourself. Work-life balance is when you can objectively say that you were able to achieve and enjoy something with your family and friends. Let us simplify that quadrant by categorizing family, friends and self into personal life, and putting work into a separate category on its own. All four are subject to both achievement and enjoyment. The four quadrants of live are: Work, Family, Friends, and Self. These two, together, help an individual realize the full value of life. These two concepts always go together, meaning you cannot have feel fulfillment out of achieving something if you did not enjoy it, and you cannot enjoy doing something if you do not accomplish anything. Worklifebalance named two key everyday concepts that will help us come up with a positive and clearer definition of work-life balance: achievement and enjoyment. Work-family balance is merely one of the many aspects of having what we call a work-life balance. You may hear other people talking about how they have to balance their work and family. Work-life basically refers to the proper prioritizing of an individual between his work or career and his personal life or lifestyle. However, it doesn’t have to be, and we hope to provide even a small amount of enlightenment on the topic. It sounds like a very complicated concept and, for many people, it probably is. In this guide, we explore 1) the connection between work and life, 2) common misconceptions about work-life-balance, 3) the importance of achieving it, 4) how to achieve your work-life-balance.įor many, talking about work-life balance immediately brings to mind scenes of visiting a psychologist or psychiatrist and starting a discussion about the meaning of life. However, it was only during the 1970s and 1980s that the concept of work-life balance was shed more light. But this dichotomy between work and play has been around since the middle of the 1800s. According to author and journalist Paul Krassner in an interview in 1963, “one of the aspects of happiness is when you can make as little distinction as possible between your work and your play”.
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