In the last few weeks, I’ve had 3 people wrestle with me over the concept of work-life balance. I’m not even using quite that term; we call it ‘life balance’. What they’re arguing is that it’s a false dilemma, an inaccurately binary setup. Yet, the phenomenon behind it is real, so we’re fighting over words. What should we call it?
I agree - wonderful that people feel that what they are doing is an integral part of what they want to do in the world. But …
There is going to be a balance, whether you like to look at it or not.
You only have a fixed amount of time each day, each week, each year. This is a fixed resource, and you are choosing the proportions of time you spend on the activities that matter to you. In the coolest emotional terms, you are balancing the equation of how you spend your time. It’s not about harmony, it’s just an equation.
So balance is an accurate term, is it the work-life part that’s the problem?