Work-life balance — Lessons learned and mistakes made

Striking the right work-life balance is vital to your happiness, but the act of balancing work to leisure merely grazes the surface. It goes deeper than you may realise…

Balance is a beautiful thing. There is something innately satisfying about achieving a perfect equilibrium. It appeals to the ‘engineer’ within us.

You can see it clearly in children as they balance cutlery on their fingers, or spoons on the tips their noses.

You can feel it in the audience, in one of the most enthralling TED videos I’ve ever watched, performed by Lara Jacobs; over a period of 15 minutes, Ms Jacobs balances thirteen palm leaf ribs together so delicately that the shift in the weight of a feather is all that it takes to ultimately collapse her creation (the performance is accompanied by a minimalist soundtrack, enhanced by simply the sound of her steady even breathing, and is a mesmerising watch).

We love balance, so it’s not surprising that work-life balance has become so important to us. It’s not just the lifestyle benefits that are important; the balance matters. That’s why if you dial back a little too much you can feel so disjointed and off-centre.

So, what I’d like to focus on isn’t the importance of a work-life balance, but the emphasis of the balance. The reason, quite simply, is because when I stepped off the cliff to pursue writing full-time (you can read here for more information on how and why I did this) I was thrilled at the control I now had over my time and lifestyle… and I got the balance wrong. I didn’t even think it was possible, but having spent years badly over-balanced towards work I adjusted and over-balanced towards lifestyle!

Tipping the scales too far

Did you know it’s possible to do too much yoga? I revelled in the fact that my ability to manage my own time meant I could attend more than just a couple of sessions a week; I started going every day. My flexibility increased dramatically, as did my stability… however, I started getting back pain, along with a number of other tiny little aches and annoyances. Worse, I was exhausted! I’d come home, eat lunch, and end up taking a nap on the living room floor (the discomfort of which helped limit the naps to 20 minutes; I’d discovered napping on a bed after yoga often turned into a full doze)! Yoga is amazing, and I intend to keep practicing, however I realise now that there is most definitely such a thing as too much yoga (you can read here for an interesting article about some of the risks involved with yoga and over-exerting yourself).

My second failing was in my writing itself, where I forced myself to write lifestyle pieces (such as this) on a consistent and regular basis, whereas my passion is truly in fiction (which was the impetus behind my career change in the first place). I realised that with this as well I had pushed myself too far. I was filling my time with so much ‘work’ writing that I hadn’t enough left over for my ‘pleasure’ writing (don’t feel bad, I enjoy these types of pieces as well, they’re just not where my true passion lies). Knowing this, I’m resolved to readdress the balance and refocus some of my efforts on my fiction once again (I’ll continue doing both, I’ll just find a better equilibrium).

Working to achieve balance anew

Striving for balance is important; I still believe that achieving an ideal work-life balance is the key to a happy life. However, I’ve now realised that this is merely the first step. The real challenge lies in finding the balance that comes after, when you acknowledge that the leisure side of the equation requires stability as well, and you must make efforts to bring your new lifestyle into the perfect equilibrium.

Am I annoyed that I got this wrong initially? Absolutely not, and when you attempt it (if it goes wrong at first) neither should you be. I’ve come to realise that life is ultimately a series of experiments, as we tweak and fiddle, trying to get it right. Life also changes, and what balances perfectly one day may not the next. So like the children with their spoons, keep trying to get the balance right and don’t let yourself be concerned if you get it wrong from time to time. It will come, in time, and the tweaking is half the fun.

What now?

I’d like you to consider your own work-life balance; have you been able to take that crucial first step, and eke out a decent distribution of your time? If not, make that your priority! If you have, take a moment and reassess the scales; are they in perfect equilibrium? Forcing yourself to over-indulge in the leisure side of the equation is entirely possible, so make sure you haven’t traded one imbalance for another.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this! Have you begun working towards a better work-life balance? How have you found it? Did you encounter the same problem I did? Let me know!

Originally published at wordsbydavid.com on December 10, 2015.

About the Author: David Whitaker is a freelance writer, who spent years in the corporate rat race before deciding that life is too short to not spend it doing what you love! He now spends his time writing about life and trying to enjoy it as much as possible.

If you like what he writes, please like, share, or comment!

David’s personal blog is at wordsbydavid.com and you can follow him on twitter at @wordsbydavid or at https://au.linkedin.com/in/whitakerd