‘Work-life balance’ is a common phrase thrown around in virtually all our conversations and interactions
We live in a world that is dramatically revolutionizing every day. The last few decades have seen insane progress, especially in technological advancement. We have become more productive than ever before. As a result, most people are now finding it harder to juggle between personal life and work. This frantic pursuit for an equilibrium is proving to be one of the most flawed pursuits ever.
One of the most pressing issues of our time
Everyone has become busier striving to be in tandem with the rapid growth. With bills to pay, our work is to work and work and work.
And more work.
We’ve become like machines. Or even work maniacs. Pushing ourselves beyond our limits. Most people of goodwill may tell you that our solution lies in maintaining a ‘work-life balance’. As much as most of their intentions are genuine, there should be nothing like a ‘work-life balance’. Unknowingly, they are proving to be enemies of progress. For seamless human interactions and for continued insane success, we need to recalibrate our perception of the work-life balance propaganda peddled by enemies of common good.
Just picture a beam balance
We place objects of different masses and maybe different compositions and make-up on a beam balance. We want to balance them for a number of reasons. Maybe to establish the mass of one unknown using one known, the way my local butcher does when I go for an occasional chunk. Or maybe we want to prove that a pound of building nails is heavier than a pound of cotton wool. And we all get surprised! Whatever our objectives for using the beam balance are, one key observation is glaringly visible: we are placing different and highly contrasted objects on both sides.
Applying this same principle into our frenzied modern day lives can be one of the worst steps ever. There is one simple reason for this: work and life don’t exist on opposite sides for them to be balanced. We don’t need to contrast them. Work is life and life is work.
Work is life and life is work
These two are intertwined and should never be considered separately. Often, in our frantic pursuits for a better life for ourselves and our families, we forget that life and work interact and are actually intertwined. We are naturally wired to follow a mundane and robotic routine which includes putting in long hours at our jobs. At the end of the day, most of us are so exhausted to even lift a finger. Family time is almost non-existent. In desperation, we found ourselves so inclined to listen to the propaganda of work-life balance. Enemies of collective progress disguised as crusaders of positivity and common good have continued to peddle this lie even further.
They have gained an immense following.
Most of them are Founders of massive corporations and digital companies. They treasure their massive influence and wealth so much that they’ll always credit success to being able to maintain a work-life balance. This is a BALD-FACED LIE.
Here is why this is a flawed pursuit:
Life and work need to interact not to balance
In essence, according to the proponents of work-life balance, there should be a 50-50 split. In reality, this is not feasible. We cannot possibly divide our hours equally for work and for other personal life pursuits. Most people nowadays work longer than before in order to generate more income.
As much as working fewer hours can be a viable solution, the majority of the global population cannot afford to do it. Most employees need that overtime paycheck.
Not everyone is a CEO or a founder of a digital company or a massive corporation. Not everyone has 24 hours a day at their disposal to plan them as they wish. Not everyone gets to choose how many hours they work. Most people fall squarely at the mercy of bosses. This reduced freedom over personal time cannot be solved by a blind pursuit of work-life balance.
That’s where the work and life interaction comes in. This is a better way of looking at this contentious issue with a greater degree of feasibility. Come to think of it, what if we decide to put life and work on one side of the beam balance? Yes, we actually don’t need a balance, we need a purposeful interaction between life and work.
Let’s do away with this balance
Let’s consider life and work as a single entity, as ridiculous as it sounds. We work hard for a better life for ourselves and our families. What if we integrate life and work regardless of the hours each takes in our day. Maybe we can achieve more than just a balance or a mere equilibrium. We’ll be setting ourselves up for greater success and prosperity.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting that you shift all the worries of your personal life to your office. Or move your office into your home.
NO.
I just want you to make a mindset shift. Stop viewing life and work as being inherently separate. This is a mindset you entertain if all you desire is just to survive.
Conclusion
As it stands, we have already ceded massive ground to an unsustainable model of living and working. However, all hope is not lost. Work-life balance is a lie that works against the common good and can only benefit a clique of individuals who have total freedom over their time. We need to embrace an interaction between our lives and our work. For even better sustainability and progress in the coming years, work and life should never be balanced but be intertwined. This way, we’ll be able to collectively succeed and truly thrive.