What Is Work-Life Blend?

Work-life blending helps employees become more flexible, productive, and mentally healthy.

Work-life balance was part of most workplace conversations pre-Covid. The concept assumed work and life as two separate entities and tried to give each equal proportions of attention.

Covid came with remote working, and many organizations realized that work and life are integral. Work itself is a part of life, and their convergence is unpreventable. It took a taste of remote working to realize that and usher in a new concept — work-life blending.

Work-Life Blending

This new concept has moved from being a peripheral topic to becoming a critical discourse between employees and human resource departments. It promotes integrating professional and personal lives to enhance productivity and enrich life.

In an era of flexible work arrangements, side hustles, gigs, and remote working, it’s more difficult to separate life and work.

With this new kind of work-life integration, emphasis is on meeting KPIs and staying productive rather than hours spent at the workplace. Blending work and life can be waking up early to put in more hours so you can create more time for family functions, or relocating to a more serene neighborhood, so you work more productively.

How Did We Forget about ‘Work-Life Balance’ So Fast?

Covid-19 and remote work opened our eyes to many things, one of which is that emphasis should be on deliverables, productivity, and KPIs, rather than hours spent at work.

A Stanford study of 16,000 workers over nine months showed that working from home increased productivity by 13% and reduced churn rate by 50%. The workers also reported improved work satisfaction.

Before Covid, workers struggled with work-life balance. This struggle impacted productivity and increased churn rate. Chron highlighted the challenges to achieving work-life balance in some careers while recognizing the consequences of an imbalance. People struggle with keeping up and will always leave a workplace when they experience a work/life imbalance that affects their mental health.

Today, remote work is increasingly recognized and adopted by companies. Gen Z and millennials are striving for more balance while pushing for more purposeful and flexible work, according to a 2022 Deloitte Global Survey. Work from home is becoming a permanent part of how jobs are done. A New York Times post stated that as of May 2020, about 43% of employed people in the US worked exclusively from home.

Each day spent meeting personal and professional goals increases the work-life blending appeal. We’ve discovered that we can live both lives comfortably while staying productive and physically and mentally healthy.

The More The Blend, The Better

Both lives shouldn’t compete or strike a perfect balance but should be flexible enough to accommodate the other. As the line between our personal and professional lives becomes more blurry, there are overlaps regarding our roles as colleagues, parents, friends, etc.

With blending, there are zero struggles for work-life balance and no worries about high work time since work is integrated with social and personal lives. Work no longer denies you the life you want.

When there is a work-life blend:

• Work becomes one and the same with hobbies and passions.
• Professional and personal goals align
• There is an inspiration for work.
• Inputs and results are appreciated.
• Personal and organization values align.
• Work isn’t just a place to get a paycheck, but a place that adds spice to life.
• All roles as a person, at work and home, align, and priorities each time are met without other roles suffering.

Work-life blending makes workers more productive, more fulfilled, and less likely to leave an organization.