Is Work Life Balance a Myth?
Back to school is a great time to assess how we are managing all of the things that are important in our lives - that thing we call work life balance. According to a study by World at Work, companies are trying to address work life balance by offering employees perks like telework on a limited basis, flex time and compressed work weeks.
While workplace flexibility is believed to have a positive effect on engagement, motivation and job satisfaction, we still have a long way to go to offer and expand these kinds of programs within companies and organizations nationwide. “It’s an evolutionary process that occurs as employees tap into what they need to achieve work-life effectiveness. Employers understand valid business reasons for cultivating new ways of working,” according to World at Work, Alliance for Work-Life Progress.
While our workplaces continue to evolve and address our external work-life effectiveness, we may also want to ask ourselves about our own internal process. As professionals, we are constantly feeling pressure to figure out our own work-life balance. This popular term implies that we should somehow be able to have it all, do it all, all the time! But, is that really possible?
First, let’s stop for a moment and consider the meaning behind the phrase. If you think about it, work-life balance implies that we can somehow juggle it all and at any time all this “stuff” we are managing could come crashing down around us. It also implies that work and life are somehow separate entities. Many of us spend untold hours at work every week. And if work isn’t considered a part of life, then aren’t we setting ourselves up for an internal struggle with this thing we are calling balance?
What if we were to think about our Life Blend rather than work life balance? We can begin to look at how we blend our work and our families - both our personal and professional lives together - rather than assuming we need to try to balance it all - rather than assuming we need to try to balance it all, and all at once.
We can also consider how we measure our success. We all know that longer days at the office don’t work - time is a limited resource. There are still 24 hours in a day and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. However, brain science findings now reveal that there are ways we can begin to foster a sense of well-being, increase our productivity, creativity and lower our stress levels. One place to begin is to examine the science of stamina. By fostering simple rituals that help employees replenish their energy, organizations build workers’ physical, emotional and mental resilience. And, unlike time, personal energy is renewable. In fact, some companies are discovering that by supporting their employees to rejuvenate their personal energy, the benefits go straight to the bottom line.
So how can you begin to rejuvenate and replenish your personal energy?
Start with an energy check-in. How is your energy in each of these four areas: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual? Notice when you feel drained and when you feel energized. Then pick one area where you can begin to replenish your energy and build resilience.
Examining how we view our own life blend, conducting an energy check-in and choosing one area where you can build resilience - these are ways that we can work on ourselves - regardless of whether our company currently offers work life balance perks to employees.