As a comedian, specificity of language is very important. Changing one word can turn a joke from “sorta funny” to hilarious. But words also express their intent, which is why I’ve recently realized how little I like the phrase “work/life balance.” It suggests two things:
- Work is more important than life (it comes first), and
- One of the two is bad (you “balance the good with the bad”).
Some companies have tried to address #2 by calling it work/life effectiveness, but work is still first and effectiveness implies an emphasis on productivity, which is fine for my work but not the first word I want to use to describe my life (the word “fun” comes to mind). So what do I suggest?
Life/Work Synergy
Wait, really? Yes. “Synergy” may be a buzzword, and the phrase may sound “new agey,” but it works–it’s specific and speaks to what I want between my life and work. I want my life and work to come together to produce something greater than the sum of their individual parts. I want the work I do to be something that excites me and I want to do in it a way that not only enables my personal life, but also enhances it. We spend 25% of our adult life (before retirement) working; I don’t want that 25% to just be a day-job.
I understand simply changing the phrase “work/life balance” to “life/work synergy” won’t magically make anyone’s situation what they want it to be, but thinking in that context will help. Once you start looking for ways life and work can build on one another (instead of just looking for how to balance the two), you’ll find creative solutions to improve your circumstances. And if an entire organization did that? Well, I think we’d be on to something.
Work life balance is merely a buzzword. For millions of working class people – work is simply about survival i.e. covering costs. The pursuit of a balance is a luxury – something not afforded to the majority.
A work life balance is only a feasible option for the rich. If you’re financially well-off – you can afford to either quit work altogether or significantly reduce the amount of hours you work – thereby freeing up time for leisure and alternative pursuits.
We need to eliminate all of these sweet sounding buzzwords which attempt to sugar coat reality.
I have a work life and a private life. Both are separated because boundaries need to be established. You have to leave work behind. It already consumes far too much of life. It shouldn’t take what little you have left at the end of the day.
The word ‘balance’ suggests trying to equalise the demands of work and the joys of life. Life is a fluid, dynamic and ever-changing system. Our priorities shift over time and because of this there will be occasions where work overrides your personal life in terms of the demands placed upon it.
There are only so many hours in the day and work consumes the best of them and in bulk. Your personal life is what lingers at the end of the day. It’s hardly a reflection of a balance.
There are to many people trying to sugar coat reality with sweet sounding slogans. For example, I have heard a work-life balance referred to as ‘work-life integration’, ‘work-life harmony’, ‘work-life blend’, ‘work-life alignment’, ‘work-life equilibrium’, etc. All of these slogans are ultimately meaningless because nothing in life works to a balance.
Furthermore, work severely depletes you of energy which in turn exerts a negative impact on your personal life. How can you enjoy life without energy? Most people are knackered after work, particularly if the job is physical, and therefore it can reasonably argued that work is essentially wiping out most of the day. Time and energy and both lost to work.
To experience the joys of life you need time, money and energy. Work takes out the time, hits your energy levels badly and for the vast majority of people, pays far too little.
Only the rich who have financial freedom truly get to enjoy the fruits of life. Financial freedom permits you the wiggle room to avoid work which consequently frees up time plus the financial muscle to acquire goods and experience higher-quality life experiences. In avoiding work or at least significantly reducing the amount of hours worked owing to the financial freedom – the rich will also have their energy levels fully restored which makes all the difference in the world.
I don’t disagree with the use of “synergy,” but what if you eliminate “work” and just call it “life balance,” of which work is a subset, as is play, family, relationships, sports, etc. Business should be helping people develop themselves from inside out, helping them to well-grounded from within, so that they can do what’s necessary to have balance in their lives. That will have an ROI for the company–better people make better employees. (I’m not implying that their is something wrong with them; we all can grow.)