The BIGG Successs Show
Why Work Life Balance Doesn't Work
A new concept you can use to merge your professional and personal life. Read our show summary at biggsuccess.com.
Welcome to the Big Success Show. Today, we'll discuss why work-life balance doesn't work. The Big Success Show with George and Mary Lynn. Many professionals feel cold almost constantly. Work demands spill over to home and vice versa. You're stretched in several directions at once. You try to sort things out by priority, but what do you do when everything is a high priority? Ah, the challenge of work-life balance and an increasing number of people have given up on the balancing act. We're finding that it's impossible to draw this line in the sand and divide our lives into two parts. And this doesn't work for everybody, but if you think about it, we only have one life to live. So why complicate it by trying to reach our goals in two separate worlds as if one doesn't have anything to do with the other? Which is why you might find it pays to not try to balance your life. Thus, the emerging trend of work-life integration. This concept is still in its early stages, but more and more people are finding that it works better for them than trying to keep things in balance. And work-life integration is all about flow. Many people are developing the ability to flow seamlessly from one area of their life to the other. For example, your spouse may say something that helps you with the problem you're having at work. Go write it down so you remember it later. Or at work, maybe your coworkers give you insight on something at home. Pay attention to all of the important people and priorities in your life all the time rather than thinking that you need to segment them. And that's the essence of work-life integration. It requires a paradigm shift we need to think about our life in a different way. So instead of putting pressure on yourself to be great in two separate areas of your life, you focus on doing the best you can in your life. What a concept. Yes, I love this and it calls for removing the limitations that we place on ourselves. And there's three that we'll talk about. The first one is the place. We often think that work only occurs at the office and personal only occurs at home. We shouldn't mix the two. That's really how we've been trained to think, right? Don't bring personal things to work and don't bring work home. The problem is it doesn't work. That's right. Second limitation, the time. I work from this time to this time. Like nine to five. Ah, working nine to five. All right, Dolly. But then I live my personal life and it may make sense for you to adjust your schedules depending upon the flexibility your employer allows and your spouse allows. That's true, isn't it? You got to think about both. And Marilyn, I saw a recent study by Hudson and they're a leading international recruiting firm. And this was really shocking, I think. Nearly one third of employees ranked flexibility as their number one priority in considering a job offer. I believe it. And we do have a link to that study on our blog today at BigSuccess.com. The third limitation we want to talk about today, daily reconciliation. We think we need to achieve balance every day. And in reality, sometimes work demands more of us. At other times, our personal life needs the most attention. So we need to give ourselves permission to focus on what's most important and try not to worry about whether everything is balanced every day. And you know, I think this is the single biggest challenge to work-life balance, is that guilt that goes along with this feeling that you have to balance every day. And if you think about it, that's sort of an unnatural expectation. Work-life integration is more congruent with how most of us actually live. It's just more natural. Coming up, how George and I are using work-life integration. Today we're talking about work-life integration, which is a relatively new concept that's growing in popularity. And it's all about flowing between our personal and professional lives. We understand this concept very well because, George, you and I live it, right? That's true. We work together and we play together. And when we're out playing, you know, maybe just visiting with friends and family, oftentimes we'll get some great show topic ideas just by listening to what's been going on in their lives. And oftentimes in business gatherings, we'll get some great ideas for our personal lives. So our social life can benefit our work-life and vice versa. And the thing is, if we were strictly adhering to the whole balance principle, we'd feel guilty that we're talking to our friends and coming up with a show idea. Right. And thinking about work- Or that we're coming up with something personal when we're supposed to be working, right? But you have to do what works. And here's the good news. According to the Chartered Management Institute, there will be a blurring in the coming years of the boundaries between work and family, because more of us will be working virtually. You'll find links to both of the studies that we mentioned in the show today on our blog at BigSuccess.com. And do you think work-life balance is a bunch of hoop block? Or are you really good at doing it? You know, let us know on our blog today. It's also where we have a written summary of our show. Let's get our big quote for the day, George. Our big quote today comes from Carl Wake, I believe is the name. "Simply pushing harder within the old boundaries will not do." So pull yourself together. Integrate your lives. Next time we'll talk about four things to pay attention to that pay off. And until then, here's to your big success. The Big Success Show at B-I-G-G Success.com (birds chirping) You