Reviewing the Work-life Balance
August 21st, 2019
The concept of a work-life balance has been around for a while now and is a frequent term used to help offset the increasing number of stress-related cases at work. But how effective is this term? We examine the changing nature of the work-life balance and whether there is a better alternative that we could adopt.
Striving for a healthy work-life balance suggests that you have to work hard to separate work from life. But surely work is part of life isn’t it? The two exist holistically and attempting to detach one from another may prove more difficult and stressful than it first looks. The word balance describes something that must be carefully weighed out; precise and considered. It’s also possible to lose balance or become off balance very easily. Surely then balance is something to maintain and be careful not to tip? However, it’s ok to tip the balance, this is what life is all about, shifting priorities and changing mind-sets.
I’m am definitely not suggesting that people shouldn’t switch off from work, but what I am suggesting is that both work and personal goals shouldn’t be created in isolation. When we recruit for technology roles we encourage employers to look beyond the technical skills they see on paper. We help place people in roles and people have a multitude of traits, skills and ambitions that they’ve learnt in or outside of the workplace to bring to a role. Therefore asking secondary questions to learn more about a candidate’s personal interests and goals can offer valuable insights into their personality and motivations. Some employers have started to ask their employees to share their personal goals with them in order to help support their ambitions outside of the workplace. Google provide a template called ‘one simple thing’ that supports the above. But does this collaboration of work and personal life improve well-being?
It’s true, we are all guilty of suffering from burn-out. Too much time absorbed in work can be detrimental to maintaining a healthy mind. However, accepting that it’s ok to have periods where work takes over a little and similarly ok to spend more time developing personal ambitions, is just fine. Well-being comes from understanding your own mind, your goals and your priorities. With the ever-increasing social media presence and new opportunities within a gig-economy or WeWork community, it’s almost impossible to detach work from life. But what we can do is accept that this is ok, a collaborative work/leisure lifestyle is gradually becoming accepted throughout communities and in workplaces across the UK. It’s up to us to lead our own ambitions and ensure that we give time to each and every one.
