Work-life balance - part 2

In my previous article exploring the concepts of work-life balance, I focused on setting specific goals, and laying out a road map for achieving those goals. This is a framework for success; however you wish to define that term for you personally.

This time I wish to explore in more detail ideas around work-life balance, bearing in mind that this could mean very different things for different people, and is really a very personal choice and outlook.

First, I should probably state the obvious, which is that the term work-life balance is bandied about rather a lot these days, whereas in fact the concept is really nothing new. I would hazard a guess that most working people have in one way or another, wished to achieve better balance in their lives, without necessarily giving that concept a specific name. It is probably only over the last 10 to 15 years that the notion has gained traction, as many firms have made a move to trying to help their staff have more flexibility in the workplace. Some of this stems from the goal of creating a better and fairer workplace and working practices have evolved over the years.

Over the last two years, the Covid pandemic resulted in various lockdown measures being implemented all over the world, resulting in some very rapid and significant changes to working practices. Most people were instructed to work from home if they could, and for the professional classes especially, this was a much easier thing to do, given the advancement in fast and reliable internet services and our close-to-absolute reliance on IT, software, cloud-based solutions, and so forth. Of course, the idea of working from home exclusively is not necessarily a positive for everyone, and I’ve seen some heated debates on various platforms about the merits of working from home and being in an office, and that is really a subject for another day.

The point I am trying to make though, is that for many people, a better work-life balance may arise from having more flexibility in where, how and for how long they work. Historically, most employees had strict working codes, including very rigid working hours and places of work, but this has been turned on its head in recent years. In truth, this shift was taking place well before the pandemic, with workplaces generally far more open to the idea of flexible working practices, at least in my experience.

Much of what I’ve said so far refers to people in employment. The challenges for business owners and the self-employed can be quite different. While they are not bound quite as much by convention, employment contracts and working practices, in my experience these sorts of people are usually very motivated and driven and can end up in situations where they can’t see the wood for the trees or sacrifice so much in the pursuit of success that they forget about all the other stuff. Very often they only realise what they’ve missed out on when it is too late, and they’ve paid the price, be that a ruined relationship, poor health, sky-high stress levels and so forth. For these people, taking a step back and reassessing their goals and work-life balance can be a crucial and life-changing experience.

Most of my working life has been spent in employment, so a lot of the ideas I have explored and tried to put into practice over the years are in the context of being an employee. However, I am sure that these concepts can be adapted and work for those who run their own businesses.

For me, the key driver for work-life balance is time. It has often been said before, but time is one of the few things that money cannot really buy. Whilst generalizing, successful and driven people are often time-poor, and most people I have spoken to in my working life have at some stage passed comment that they wished they had more time to focus on something else; be that a neglected project, catching up on admin, spending more time with colleagues. This knocks on to non-workplace time constraints; wanting to spend more time with one’s spouse, kids, time to walk the dog, go on a holiday, not work on a weekend, go for a run, meet a friend for coffee and so on.

I know it is down to personal choices and goals, but what is the point in working crazy-long hours for decades, in the process neglecting one’s family and health, only to retire one day and not have the state of mind or health to enjoy retirement? To be frank, all the money in the world is not going to help you then.

In my next article I will explore time management in more detail, as in my own working life focusing on this element has made a large difference to the quality of my working (and personal) life.