Work / Life Balance: Reality or Myth?

Work–life balance is a concept including proper prioritizing between “work” (career and ambition) and “lifestyle” (health, pleasure, leisure, family and spiritual development/meditation). Work is something we choose to spend a good chunk of our time doing whether we enjoy doing it or we do it for the money.

Some questions that one would ask himself include: how can I achieve work/life balance? Why do I believe I need to have work/life balance? Who is telling me that I need work/life balance or that I currently don’t have it? What is the definition of work/life balance? In other words, what does work/life balance look like? What are some ways that I can maintain my work/life balance? Most of the studies on the harmful effects of excessive work rely on subjective evaluations of work “overload.” They fail to disentangle respondents’ beliefs and emotions about work. If something bores you, it will surely seem tedious. When you hate your job, you will register any amount of work as excessive — it’s like forcing someone to eat a big plate of food they dislike, then asking if they had enough of it.

Complaining about your poor work-life balance is a self-indulgent act that does not help either you or your employer/business. It demoralizes the spirit and leads to disappointment on both ends. Overworking is only possible if you are not having fun at work. People who have jobs, rather than careers, worry about work-life balance because they are unable to have fun at work. Any amount of work will be dull if you are not engaged, or if you find your work unfulfilling.

Hard work may be your most important career weapon. Engagement is the difference between the bright and the dark side of workaholics. Put simply, a little bit of meaningless work is a lot worse for you than a great deal of meaningful work. Work is just like a relationship: Spending one week on a job you hate is as dreadful as spending a week with a person you don’t like. Technology has not ruined your work-life balance; it has simply exposed how boring your work and your life used to be, it has not only eliminated the boundaries between work and life, but it has also improved both areas. Whoever feeds you the myth that, if you can simply find “work/life balance,” then your stress will magically vanish and all will be well is lying to you because that is like chasing some holy grail that does not exist.

The 10 most workaholic nations in the world account for most of the world’s GDP. Studies have also confirmed that most of the world’s economic super powers like USA, Japan, China etc do not look for work/life balance. They are basically twenty four hour economies with most people giving up weekends and public holidays in order to continue working. The writing is on the wall as regards the difference between such economies and developing economies like Kenya.

Therefore you need to spend your time looking for something that has meaning; something that resonates with your heart. Find an occupation that fulfills you. Do what you love and love what you do; if you do that, the rest will take care of itself.