I have come to the conclusion that this fabled ‘work/life balance’ that we are all supposed to strive towards, is in fact very misleading. I no longer believe in this concept of ‘work/life balance’ and neither should you!
The misconception comes from thinking you should be leading a completely separate life for work. Whilst I totally agree that you need to find time for your loved ones, work & life is the same thing.
For a few years I’ve been struggling with this whole ‘work/life balance thing’. I’d usually work well more than my 40 hours a week, and started resenting the extra time I spent on work, as if I should have a work life and a totally separate life life.
Well, now I know differently. Work & life is one. If you want to spend all your time working, that’s no bad thing (of course, you need time for your loved ones).
Here’s my example:
I like thinking. I don’t like vacantly staring at a television. I like doing stuff with my mind. Reading is okay but I’d rather be thinking productive thoughts. And therein lays the problem with work/life balance: am I supposed to only think productive thoughts 9 to 5 and then outside this time think unproductive life thoughts?
Honestly, if I’m not thinking about work and doing work, learning new skills for work, or developing my work expertise; then I am largely unproductive.
And because I fell for this ‘work/life balance’, thinking I should have a life outside of work, my time outside working hours was wasted on trivial stuff: either playing computer games (which I don’t really like doing because it is a total waste of time - but it is a great distraction), thinking about cars (thinking about buying my next car usually and wasting a tonne of cash), and other quite un-useful thoughts.
There is no work/life balance, there is just life. And if you’re always working (relaxed, unstressed, and enjoying/interested in what you are doing) then that it totally cool!
Check out:
The dishonest myth
of work-life balance
https://resources.workable.com/stories-and-insights/work-life-balance-myth
