Work – life balance as working woman

An ongoing challenge in life for working women or not?

What is the meaning of work – life balance?

Work – life balance is a concept including the proper prioritization between work (career and ambition) and lifestyle (health, pleasure, leisure, family).

The expression ‘work – life balance’ was first used in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s to describe the balance between an individual’s work and personal life.

Work – life balance has been addressed by some employers and has been seen as a benefit to them. Employees with a good work-life balance are efficiently productive and have a happy experience of their job.

In a recent article of World Economic Forum it turned out that;

The Dutch have the best work-life balance.

The Netherlands has overtaken Denmark as the country with the best work-life balance. That is according to the latest OECD Better Life Index, which ranks countries on how successfully households mix work, family commitments and personal life, among other factors.

Even after all these statements we still face chalenges in achieving a proper work-life balance on a micro level. Working women who have children experience even more demands on time, energy and resources.

I believe that this is a result from the direct teammembers. The group pressure is one of the factors and the opinion of the teammembers considering work-life balance. In a corporate environment we need to be bold to set our own rules as women and then see what the result will be. Fear like guilt is one of the factors that holds us back. Fear to loose our job and we feel guilty all the time. Only when we can overcome or let go that fear and guilt we will be liberated and be able to handle the work-life balance on our own terms.

As working women we easilly get the tag that we would not prioritize our work above family.

Actually why is that not positive? We should also not engage in that manner. I feel proud that I am able to put my family first and then my job on the second place. I do not feel like proving myself all the time. In the end it is all about life and what we find important in leading a succesfull life in general. We should define our own criteria for work-life balance instead of it being dictated by society.

Only then we can break the barriers of contemporay mindset on this topic.