Work and Life: What is the right balance?

Work-life balance: The Concept

For 70% individuals in the world, work is an integral component of their life. How can you balance the whole with one of its own parts? Work is a sizeable and significant segment of life that demands its own independent space. It is integrated into existence; people look forward to working. Work-life-balance is a real entity, and it means spending the right amount of time on your job as well as making time for your loved ones, and pursuing hobbies and interests that enthuse, replenish, and rejuvenate you. When any component of life demands excess attention and sucks up surplus energy than was allotted, you might face a rough time in managing the other areas to their fullest. That is when you would sense an imbalance between your work and life.

What are you balancing work against?

Often enough you don’t know what you need to balance your work against. It’s easy to overlook the responsibilities you have towards other dimensions of life when you’re seriously engrossed in one. But closing your eyes to something doesn’t make it go away, right? Let’s look at this like a wheel of health with many different spokes.

Your physical health is important because an unhealthy body cannot allow you to work to your fullest. Likewise, your emotional health is what gives you the zest and enthusiasm to take on more challenging opportunities and convert them into successes. Taking care of your feelings and moods hence cannot be discounted. Familial health means spending sufficient time with your family; they need you, and you need their love and support too.

Financial wellness focuses on adjusting your needs and wants to assure that you are content with what you make, and also mindfully invest it rightly so that it brings in desirable returns. When you connect with people around you – be it home, club, park, social rgoups, or work; you’re enhancing your social health and becoming more deeply involved with the community. Finally at the spiritual level, you must spend time on reflecting on life and its purpose; and seek meaning in what you do.

Are you able to focus on all these dimensions of existence or is all the time getting lost in work?

Is a balance even possible?

You may feel that you’re striking the balance, but your health could be suffering. You may think you’re there for your family, but they’re sensing your absence. You believe you’re active socially, but your friends see you absconding. What you think, may not be in sync with how you feel and most likely not in tune with your behavior. Work life balance is a mindful blend of self-awareness, emotional consciousness and mindful presence with the tasks you engage in.

It starts with monitoring all aspects of life that are important, and consciously asking yourself as well as people around you about your performance. You need an appraisal from all stakeholders. Your doctor, partner, children, family and friends are better judges of whether you’re spending sufficient time with them. This short activity will enlighten you on your performance and this appraisal is as important as the one at work. What you think may not match reality. You need to test it and take the right steps once you know where you’re lacking.

Myths

  • If I relax, I will slow my success
  • If I have spare time, it means I’m lazy
  • Multitasking sharpens my brain
  • Short cuts make my life easier
  • Lesser I sleep, more I’ll achieve
  • Balance means ignoring my work
  • I have to balance everything perfectly
  • A real balance is totally impossible

Facts

  • If I relax I will better my performance
  • If I have spare time, it means I am efficient
  • Short cuts make life harder in the long-run
  • Multitasking increases my errors actually
  • Lesser I sleep, more chances of dementia
  • Balance means managing everything well
  • I can integrate work and life to be happy
  • I can seek help to attain that balance

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