Work-Life Balance does not mean an equal balance. Trying to schedule an equal number of hours for each of your various work and personal activities is usually unrewarding and unrealistic. Life is and should be more fluid than that.
Your best individual work-life balance will vary over time, often on a daily basis. The right balance for you today will probably be different for you tomorrow. The right balance for you when you are single will be different when you marry, or if you have children; when you start a new career versus when you are nearing retirement.
There is no perfect, one-size fits all, balance you should be striving for. The best work-life balance is different for each of us because we all have different priorities and different lives.
However, at the core of an effective work-life balance definition are two key everyday concepts that are relevant to each of us. They are daily
Achievement and Enjoyment, ideas almost deceptive in their simplicity.
Engraining a fuller meaning of these two concepts takes us most of the way to defining a positive Work-Life Balance. Achievement and Enjoyment answer the big question "Why?" Why do you want a better income…a new house…the kids through college…to do a good job today…to come to work at all?
Most of us already have a good grasp on the meaning of Achievement. But let's explore the concept of Enjoyment a little more. As part of a relevant Work-Life Balance definition, enjoyment does not just mean "Ha-Ha" happiness. It means Pride, Satisfaction, Happiness, Celebration, Love, A Sense of Well Being …all the Joys of Living.
Achievement and Enjoyment are the front and back of the coin of value in life. You can't have one without the other, no more than you can have a coin with only one side. Trying to live a one sided life is why so many "Successful" people are not happy, or not nearly as happy as they should be.
You cannot get the full value from life without BOTH Achievement and Enjoyment. Focusing on Achievement and Enjoyment every day in life helps you avoid the "As Soon As Trap", the life dulling habit of planning on getting around to the joys of life and accomplishment "as soon as…."
Some philosophical guy bumps into me, and says…. "Heh mister… what's your purpose in life?" Well even in that half-awake condition, I'd have an answer for him. I'd say, "You know, I just want to achieve something today and I want to enjoy something today. And if I do both of those things today, I'm going to have a pretty good day. And if I do both of those things every day, for the rest of my life… I'm going to have a pretty good life."
And I think that's true for all of us. Life will deliver the value and balance we desire …when we are achieving and enjoying something every single day…in all the important areas that make up our lives. As a result, a good working definition of Work-Life Balance is:
Meaningful daily Achievement and Enjoyment in each of my four life quadrants: Work, Family, Friends and Self.
Ask yourself now, when was the last time you Achieved AND Enjoyed something at work? What about Achieved AND Enjoyed with your family; your friends? And how recently have you Achieved AND Enjoyed something just for you?
Why not take 20 minutes on the way home from work and do something just for yourself? And when you get home, before you walk in the door, think about whether you want to focus on achieving or enjoying at home tonight. Then act accordingly when you do walk in the door.
At work you can create your own best Work-Life Balance by making sure you not only Achieve, but also reflect the joy of the job, and the joy of life, every day. If nobody pats you on the back today, pat yourself on the back. And help others to do the same.
When you do, when you are a person that not only gets things done, but also enjoys the doing, it attracts people to you. They want you on their team and they want to be on your team.
Simple concepts. And once you focus on them as key components of your day, they are not that hard to implement. So, make it happen, for yourself, your family and all the important individuals you care about…every day for the rest of your life… Achieve and Enjoy.
From India, Mumbai
Your best individual work-life balance will vary over time, often on a daily basis. The right balance for you today will probably be different for you tomorrow. The right balance for you when you are single will be different when you marry, or if you have children; when you start a new career versus when you are nearing retirement.
There is no perfect, one-size fits all, balance you should be striving for. The best work-life balance is different for each of us because we all have different priorities and different lives.
However, at the core of an effective work-life balance definition are two key everyday concepts that are relevant to each of us. They are daily
Achievement and Enjoyment, ideas almost deceptive in their simplicity.
Engraining a fuller meaning of these two concepts takes us most of the way to defining a positive Work-Life Balance. Achievement and Enjoyment answer the big question "Why?" Why do you want a better income…a new house…the kids through college…to do a good job today…to come to work at all?
Most of us already have a good grasp on the meaning of Achievement. But let's explore the concept of Enjoyment a little more. As part of a relevant Work-Life Balance definition, enjoyment does not just mean "Ha-Ha" happiness. It means Pride, Satisfaction, Happiness, Celebration, Love, A Sense of Well Being …all the Joys of Living.
Achievement and Enjoyment are the front and back of the coin of value in life. You can't have one without the other, no more than you can have a coin with only one side. Trying to live a one sided life is why so many "Successful" people are not happy, or not nearly as happy as they should be.
You cannot get the full value from life without BOTH Achievement and Enjoyment. Focusing on Achievement and Enjoyment every day in life helps you avoid the "As Soon As Trap", the life dulling habit of planning on getting around to the joys of life and accomplishment "as soon as…."
Some philosophical guy bumps into me, and says…. "Heh mister… what's your purpose in life?" Well even in that half-awake condition, I'd have an answer for him. I'd say, "You know, I just want to achieve something today and I want to enjoy something today. And if I do both of those things today, I'm going to have a pretty good day. And if I do both of those things every day, for the rest of my life… I'm going to have a pretty good life."
And I think that's true for all of us. Life will deliver the value and balance we desire …when we are achieving and enjoying something every single day…in all the important areas that make up our lives. As a result, a good working definition of Work-Life Balance is:
Meaningful daily Achievement and Enjoyment in each of my four life quadrants: Work, Family, Friends and Self.
Ask yourself now, when was the last time you Achieved AND Enjoyed something at work? What about Achieved AND Enjoyed with your family; your friends? And how recently have you Achieved AND Enjoyed something just for you?
Why not take 20 minutes on the way home from work and do something just for yourself? And when you get home, before you walk in the door, think about whether you want to focus on achieving or enjoying at home tonight. Then act accordingly when you do walk in the door.
At work you can create your own best Work-Life Balance by making sure you not only Achieve, but also reflect the joy of the job, and the joy of life, every day. If nobody pats you on the back today, pat yourself on the back. And help others to do the same.
When you do, when you are a person that not only gets things done, but also enjoys the doing, it attracts people to you. They want you on their team and they want to be on your team.
Simple concepts. And once you focus on them as key components of your day, they are not that hard to implement. So, make it happen, for yourself, your family and all the important individuals you care about…every day for the rest of your life… Achieve and Enjoy.
From India, Mumbai
Hi Shashi,
Great article.
Do you know of anybody preparing for PHR a human resources certification? I would like to see if there is any kind of study group in India for that. THe certification is administrated through SHRM(Society of Human Resources Management)
-Priya Venkatathatham.
Great article.
Do you know of anybody preparing for PHR a human resources certification? I would like to see if there is any kind of study group in India for that. THe certification is administrated through SHRM(Society of Human Resources Management)
-Priya Venkatathatham.
This is on a bit of a tangent, but seems like the forum to tell it.
If u had to choose between money & living life... what would u choose??
I agree that its not about equal time, but its about knowing the time u need. Most companies like to think they do their work life balance bit by planning company picnics. Its more than that, I think. It about creating workloads that can be managed by employees.
From personal experiance i know of companies that load an employee to such an extent tht he has to work 12 hours a day just to break even - I know the first reaction to that is everybody thinks their work is the hardest & these days everyone works for 12 hrs, But I have also seen the alternative - I have also seen organisations who recognise that employees should not work on an average for more that 10 hrs & if someone is doing this for for over 1 month or 2 - this is addressed. That is wht I call the tru spirit of work life balance.
I know of companies that give only 3 days leave in toto to an employee who is getting married because they cannot do without him.
I know of companies where employees are forced to sit beyond 10: 00 pm everyday even on days where they do not have work & this happends to be one th biggest BPO in Mumbai. Employees leaving on time has become a dirty thing - wow.
From my personal opinion, that is the biggest challenge HR is going to have in the future - Organisational cultures frown of employees getting married, female employees having children is almost considered the death of her professional life, as they need to go home to their children now.
I know more & more people who cant get married because they just do not have the time. And more & more marriages which are strained because of the inability of the partners to spend time with one another.
I come across more & more people who take lesser paying jobs because they cant even remember their twenties..... They do not remember holidays or any time spent other than at work
Work life balance is combination of a lot of things but what it means most is treating ur employees as people, who have responsibilities & who are spending their time away from their families, who have wants & needs not based in money only. Employees need time to do house work, insurance investments, bank work, socialize, rest, bill payments, renewals, etc.
1If u had to choose between money & living life... what would u choose??
I agree that its not about equal time, but its about knowing the time u need. Most companies like to think they do their work life balance bit by planning company picnics. Its more than that, I think. It about creating workloads that can be managed by employees.
From personal experiance i know of companies that load an employee to such an extent tht he has to work 12 hours a day just to break even - I know the first reaction to that is everybody thinks their work is the hardest & these days everyone works for 12 hrs, But I have also seen the alternative - I have also seen organisations who recognise that employees should not work on an average for more that 10 hrs & if someone is doing this for for over 1 month or 2 - this is addressed. That is wht I call the tru spirit of work life balance.
I know of companies that give only 3 days leave in toto to an employee who is getting married because they cannot do without him.
I know of companies where employees are forced to sit beyond 10: 00 pm everyday even on days where they do not have work & this happends to be one th biggest BPO in Mumbai. Employees leaving on time has become a dirty thing - wow.
From my personal opinion, that is the biggest challenge HR is going to have in the future - Organisational cultures frown of employees getting married, female employees having children is almost considered the death of her professional life, as they need to go home to their children now.
I know more & more people who cant get married because they just do not have the time. And more & more marriages which are strained because of the inability of the partners to spend time with one another.
I come across more & more people who take lesser paying jobs because they cant even remember their twenties..... They do not remember holidays or any time spent other than at work
Work life balance is combination of a lot of things but what it means most is treating ur employees as people, who have responsibilities & who are spending their time away from their families, who have wants & needs not based in money only. Employees need time to do house work, insurance investments, bank work, socialize, rest, bill payments, renewals, etc.
Hi Ashu,
rightly said! in today's age of attrition and all the talk of employee retention, it is only imperative on the part of companies to go that extra mile and ensure that their employees are well taken care of.
on the one hand, we have companies that firmly belive that their employees are their biggest assets and take innovative steps in retaining an employee
and on the other hand we have companies that is obsessed with making more money and unmindful of the employees accepting that attrition is part and parcel of the trade and one needs to have a constant budget for it.
i firmly believe that one should ponder more on why a person is leaving than strategising for how to find a replacement.
as days go by the thrust would be on creating a world class organisation culture that would accomodate people of different kinds and cater to their needs, expectations and also provide an ideal platform to showcase their potentials.
coincidentally, we are in an era where opportunities are aplenty. The lure of money, atleast at the junior and middle management level, will ensure there is basic attrition levels maintained right through the year. Despite the best efforts of a company, this would be a challenge to cope with and thats where talent engagement plays a vital role.
Thanks for your thoughts yaar! they were practical and made absolute sense.
Cheers,
Sk
From India, Mumbai
rightly said! in today's age of attrition and all the talk of employee retention, it is only imperative on the part of companies to go that extra mile and ensure that their employees are well taken care of.
on the one hand, we have companies that firmly belive that their employees are their biggest assets and take innovative steps in retaining an employee
and on the other hand we have companies that is obsessed with making more money and unmindful of the employees accepting that attrition is part and parcel of the trade and one needs to have a constant budget for it.
i firmly believe that one should ponder more on why a person is leaving than strategising for how to find a replacement.
as days go by the thrust would be on creating a world class organisation culture that would accomodate people of different kinds and cater to their needs, expectations and also provide an ideal platform to showcase their potentials.
coincidentally, we are in an era where opportunities are aplenty. The lure of money, atleast at the junior and middle management level, will ensure there is basic attrition levels maintained right through the year. Despite the best efforts of a company, this would be a challenge to cope with and thats where talent engagement plays a vital role.
Thanks for your thoughts yaar! they were practical and made absolute sense.
Cheers,
Sk
From India, Mumbai
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