Work-Life Balance is more than just an energy bar.
“The key to keeping your balance is knowing when you’ve lost it.”
– Anonymous (I think that we can all agree that Anonymous, based on their prolific and impressive body of work, was grossly underpaid.)
According to the University of Kansas School of Business, my “go to” for happiness advice, “Adequate work-life balance has been shown to enhance workplace morale and productivity. When employees are well-rested, healthy, and able to manage their stress effectively, they have more mental and physical energy to devote to their projects and tasks.”
Let us open our manuals to the section marked, “Work-Life Balance”.
We all there? Good.
First of all, we know what “work” is, so we are balancing “work” with the “life” part, and that, my dear reader(s), is what we need to figure out. What, exactly, is this “life” thing we have heard so much about?
“When the working day is done, girls, they want to have fun.”
– Cindy Lauper
For too many of us, the “life” part is running around, getting “stuff” done, and meeting obligations. It’s cleaning the bathroom, weeding the yard, or taking that thing back to Kohl’s that you knew was too tight, but you bought it anyway. Let’s be honest, that is not balancing anything, let alone work. Leaving your job to go home and run in a hamster wheel is not what we are going for here. We need balance, and everyone has their own version of what not-working means. What is your balance for work?
You may find that painting takes you to a peaceful and creative place and feeds the part of your soul neglected at work. Vincent Van Gogh, conversely, found painting to be work, torment, and career fulfillment. Do you go for a hike, or do you lounge on a couch watching hiking videos on YouTube? We don’t all find balance in the same way and discovering what nurtures that part of yourself may be just as important as making the time for it. Give yourself permission to stop for a minute, to do something that is not productive.
As for the “work” part, life doesn’t stop when work starts (unless you’re a zombie). Life is the whole thing, the working, the not working, and things you do because it makes you feel alive. Balance and embrace all of it. If you can make “work” a more pleasant part of your “life”, well, you might just be a better worker, and you’ll definitely be a better lifer.
“I think I’ll go for a walk outside now
The summer sun’s callin’ my name
(I hear ya now)
I just can’t stay inside all day
I gotta get out, get me some of those rays”
– The Brady Bunch, Sunshine Day
Don’t achieve work-life balance because it’s the next thing on your to do list, find it because it makes this life a little better.
You can close your manuals now.
Written by Jeffrey Dewhurst