I don’t believe that work-life balance is practical.
It’s my belief that work-life balance, in it’s traditional understanding is not feasible if you want to excel at high levels. In fact, I don’t believe that work-life balance is feasible at all if you’d like to function effectively in your career and life when you factor in the state of our connectivity as a society.
Now that I have your attention, let me clarify.
Work-life balance, in my opinion, is the idea that work and life happen separately and that you can essentially segregate your mental and physical time between the two. I don’t believe that this is possible especially in a society that is connected 24–7. I do not believe that you can show up to ‘work’ from 9–5, and have your ‘life’ from 5–11.
This works both ways. Our connectivity has allowed our friends and family to intertwine into our work hours as well, (again showing that it’s becoming increasingly difficult to separate the two) and who’s to say that they might not require your full attention during your work hours?
With that said, I do believe that it’s critical to allow for mental, physical and emotional clarity. This is where work-life integration comes in.
The idea of work-life integration was something that was first introduced to me through Tony Robbins. It’s the idea that we can prioritize elements from both our work life and our personal life to increase productivity and effectiveness while reducing stress.
Here are some simplified steps that I’ve taken to help integrate a demanding career and life:
- Accept and acknowledge that your work and your life are in fact one and the same. After all, we need our work to push our lives forward and we need our lives to give us something to work for.
- Establish ‘must dos’ such as a high-intensity workout, focused a conversation with a loved one, and/or meditation.
- Allow for breaking up your work to integrate with your personal life — like having an early, social dinner but firing up your laptop after 7 PM.
- Use your calendar to block out personal time and commit to it.
- Take advantage of your mobility and consider planning a ‘work trip’ to travel and be productive at the same time.
Work-life integration has helped me to enjoy my work more often and has made me incredibly more productive throughout the years. It’s also allowed me to consistently push my business and career forward without resenting the work it takes to do so.
Of course, this may not be for everyone. What’s most important is you find a process that works for you. No matter what, remember that above all, happiness is a critical metric for success.
