POV: Work-Life Balance
I was recently talking with a friend entering parenthood as a working mother. She asked me what I’ve done throughout my career to maintain work-life balance. While I didn’t want to be discouraging, I needed to be truthful. “There’s really no such thing,” I said. “But you figure it out along the way!”
I’ve discovered over the past 30 years of raising a family, working full-time, and owning a company, that establishing your life as YOUR LIFE is the only thing that works.
When it’s your work life versus your family life, friend life, faith life, workout life, or your weekend life, you will feel a sense of dissonance and stress.
Another way to think of this is like a teeter-totter.
Put work life on one side and personal life on the other.
No matter how hard you try, it doesn’t even out to a straight, balanced line for more than a moment. One side continually pulls you down and wants to “outweigh” the other.
The best way to approach creating ONE LIFE is to:
- Integrate rather than compartmentalizing
- Accept that one aspect will usually weigh more heavily than others
- Adapt your focus for what requires your attention at any given moment
By embracing the ebb and flow, you’re less likely to feel frustration and burnout. It’s never perfect, but your mindset can definitely make it easier to navigate.
As always, have a great week and keep learning!
Jen
