“Work-Life Balance” is Bogus!

 

The term Work-Life Balance has become an extremely common buzz word in North America over the past decade. Research for what employees look for in the workplace to feel engaged indicates that Work–Life Balance is typically among the top three factors. Wellness programs and conferences are springing up at alarming rates to try to fulfill this need. Yet, we seem to be making little or no progress at achieving this so called Work-Life Balance.

Why is that? I believe the concept is bogus!

If we are to look at what this concept would look like in theory we come up with something like this:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But if we shift this to what it looks like in reality, don’t we all agree that it is more like this?

Remember that saying “You work to live, not live to work?” How many of us actually practice that? Why have our careers taken over and forced us into a position of trying so desperately to find “balance?” Why do we think about work from the minute we wake up to an hour after we put our heads on the pillow each night? Why do we only half listen to our children as they recount their day to us because we are thinking of our presentation for the following day? Why do we decide not to go for a walk with a friend because we really need to get caught up on our email? Why do we come home and get angry with our partner because the Q3 numbers came in today and they look rather grim? While we ask ourselves all of these questions, let’s get to the most important question of all.

What is the cost of not finding balance in our lives?

Of course there are obvious ones like burn out or mental and physical fatigue. These impact our ability to perform in the workplace and other areas of our lives. Then consider the alarming increase in depression, anxiety and heart disease. Interestingly enough these statistics are going up alongside of the sharp increase in weekly hours worked in the last 10 years. Another interesting statistic is the divorce rate in the United States for 2011. It is actually down to 41%, from the traditional 50%. I am willing to guess that could be the result of the increase in unemployment rates due to the challenged economy, which in turn is forcing people to come together and focus on the big picture, rather than just work.

So why are we struggling to find balance in our lives?

My theory is that we are not getting any closer to balance because we do not understand why we feel unbalanced to begin with. The answer is simple – our priorities and time are not aligned! In order to feel balance we must look at all of the relationships in our lives, determine which ones are our priorities and then take steps to align our time and effort to nurture these relationships.

So think about the pie as LIFE. Work is just one section, or relationship, in life. This is what it would look like visually:

 

The way to achieve balance is to activate higher performance in all of your relationships, not just your employment relationship.

So where do you go from here? Take some time and think about the key relationships in your life. Which ones are your priorities? How much time are you investing to nurture these relationships?

Check back in two weeks from now when we take the next step in helping you achieve meaningful balance, performance and true happiness all areas of your life!