3 Thoughts on How to Achieve Work Life Balance

3 Thoughts on How to Achieve Work Life Balance 3 Thoughts on How to Achieve Work Life Balance Image Source: iStockMODERATION and balance have always been flagged as two of the foundations for a long, successful and happy life.  In business, the concept of how to achieve work life balance has long been an enduring symbol for professional and personal harmony.But there is no easy guidance on how to achieve work life balance. It’s tough. And so  the concept has been criticised from industry experts as a myth.Perhaps the most objective thing we can say about work-life balance is that it’s an aspiration, but as a model, it emerged from a pre-internet, pre mobile comms tech world when it was easier to separate work from life. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 1. An Outdated Concept?THE main problem with ‘work-life balance’ is that ‘balance’ refers to a situation in which different elements (Work and Life) must be equal.But these days, smartphones and cloud-based data have blurred the distinctions, and it is no longer as easy to separate work from life. A study of UK office workers by tech retailer Pixmania in 2012 found 90% working two hours extra per day on smartphones processing work emails and making work-related calls, and the 10% without smartphones checking and answering work emails on home computers.So… how to achieve work life balance appears absurd only as the traditional views about work and life persist. There is a need to devise new ways of looking at the relationship between working and living. The balance concept cannot adequately address issues that arise from a way of life that did not exist when it was formulated.2. ‘Making’ and ‘Taking’ TimeWHERE are the workers who clock up an extra 460 hours per year finding the time? Theyre taking it from somewhere else, perhaps from time they absolutely need, for  sleep, or dealing with urgent personal issues.Successful entrepreneurs spend even more extra hours working, devising strategies and goals to ensure that their businesses survive and prosper. But good entre preneurs accept that long-term goals are attainable only through sacrifice of personal time in the short- to medium-term.Getting a business off the ground requires absolute commitment. After youve passed the fledgling stage, growing it requires… absolute commitment!Every so often, ‘down time’ has to be sacrificed. Occasionally, work might impact on celebration of a personal or family milestone, and that is going to hurtâ€"but this is the path youre on. Its your choice. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 3. Be Present, Wherever You AreIF SOMEONE is physically at Point A, but virtually connected, live, to the concerns arising at Point B, C, D, how useful can they be?If you are always or recurrently “a million miles away”, your efficiency and productiveness at whatever you should  actually be doing is compromised.There are strategies for dealing with this, including delegation to your trusted teammates. Others turn inward for a solution. Many of the most succ essful people of the 20th century, including Steve Jobs, writer Michael Crichton, the late Beatle George Harrison and US philosopher and motivational speaker Wayne Dyer, were guided by a 1971 collection of writings by Ram Dass on spirituality, yoga and meditation, entitled Be Here Now.There really is a lot to Reinhold Niebuhrs Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”Its not just about giving priority to things that matter now, but accepting that priorities change, and that it is impossible to always give equal weight to the different aspects of your life. 3 Thoughts on How to Achieve Work Life Balance 3 Thoughts on How to Achieve Work Life Balance Image Source: iStockMODERATION and balance have always been flagged as two of the foundations for a long, successful and happy life.  In business, the concept of how to achieve work life balance has long been an enduring symbol for professional and personal harmony.But there is no easy guidance on how to achieve work life balance. It’s tough. And so  the concept has been criticised from industry experts as a myth.Perhaps the most objective thing we can say about work-life balance is that it’s an aspiration, but as a model, it emerged from a pre-internet, pre mobile comms tech world when it was easier to separate work from life. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 1. An Outdated Concept?THE main problem with ‘work-life balance’ is that ‘balance’ refers to a situation in which different elements (Work and Life) must be equal.But these days, smartphones and cloud-based data have blurred the distinctions, and it is no longer as easy to separate work from life. A study of UK office workers by tech retailer Pixmania in 2012 found 90% working two hours extra per day on smartphones processing work emails and making work-related calls, and the 10% without smartphones checking and answering work emails on home computers.So… how to achieve work life balance appears absurd only as the traditional views about work and life persist. There is a need to devise new ways of looking at the relationship between working and living. The balance concept cannot adequately address issues that arise from a way of life that did not exist when it was formulated.2. ‘Making’ and ‘Taking’ TimeWHERE are the workers who clock up an extra 460 hours per year finding the time? Theyre taking it from somewhere else, perhaps from time they absolutely need, for  sleep, or dealing with urgent personal issues.Successful entrepreneurs spend even more extra hours working, devising strategies and goals to ensure that their businesses survive and prosper. But good entre preneurs accept that long-term goals are attainable only through sacrifice of personal time in the short- to medium-term.Getting a business off the ground requires absolute commitment. After youve passed the fledgling stage, growing it requires… absolute commitment!Every so often, ‘down time’ has to be sacrificed. Occasionally, work might impact on celebration of a personal or family milestone, and that is going to hurtâ€"but this is the path youre on. Its your choice. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); 3. Be Present, Wherever You AreIF SOMEONE is physically at Point A, but virtually connected, live, to the concerns arising at Point B, C, D, how useful can they be?If you are always or recurrently “a million miles away”, your efficiency and productiveness at whatever you should  actually be doing is compromised.There are strategies for dealing with this, including delegation to your trusted teammates. Others turn inward for a solution. Many of the most succ essful people of the 20th century, including Steve Jobs, writer Michael Crichton, the late Beatle George Harrison and US philosopher and motivational speaker Wayne Dyer, were guided by a 1971 collection of writings by Ram Dass on spirituality, yoga and meditation, entitled Be Here Now.There really is a lot to Reinhold Niebuhrs Serenity Prayer: “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.”Its not just about giving priority to things that matter now, but accepting that priorities change, and that it is impossible to always give equal weight to the different aspects of your life.