Of course we’re going to be talking about Work/Life Balance on this blog. For many, this is the Endgame of all personal productivity pursuits: BALANCE (cue angelic choir). I’m still fleshing out my views on this concept, but so far I’m thinking it’s not much more than a guilt-inducing buzzword. "Work/Life Balance" seems to be a convenient catch-all phrase we use to try and describe how we’re doing at this thing called living.

I work with high-powered, stressed-out people whose to-do lists are staggering, but their frustrations don’t stem from the fact that the ratio of work/life activity is not a tidy 50:50. The challenges are much deeper, running along the lines of wanting a greater sense of purpose each morning and satisfaction when the day is done. This desire applies to all their endeavors, whether they are personal or professional in nature. These folks usually love their work as much as their families and all the other activities they’re doing. It seems that when people say they’re struggling with "Work/Life Balance", they’re really looking for ways to ensure that their time and energy are being spent wisely, i.e. they want to feel they’re getting the right stuff done right.

The Lifehacker movement is a tribute to the notion that anything we’re doing can probably be done more effectively with a bit of simplifying and systemising. This applies to organising your photos or kids’ school papers as much as it does to managing your emails or running meetings at work. I like this approach; it resonates nicely with my belief that it’s not about Work vs. Life…cuz it’s ALL life! So we happen to get a paycheck for some of the things we do…but isn’t there tremendous value in trying to do it all in as focused and efficient a way as possible? The results are usually pretty worthwhile, e.g. more discretionary time in your hands, more harmonious relationships, quicker retrieval of the things you’re searching for, the respect of your colleagues and appreciation of your family, a bit more cash in your pocket, less stress, a sense of peace, etc. That may not be ‘Balance’ per se…but it’s nothing to sniff at, either!

I’ll be posting a lot more about this topic, but for now I want to share a thought-provoking article in which Keith H. Hammonds brilliantly stares down the concept of balance. Do take a few minutes to read it and let me know what you think. You’ll see yourself in here, one way or another: It’s called Balance is Bunk!

Filed under: Work/Life Balance