Stress and work life balance

"Work life balance" describes a scale, it isn't a goal, so it can't be a myth.

We are all somewhere on that scale, we have some amount of work and some life outside work.

When people talk about achieving a balance, they mean that they've reached a point on the scale that they're happy with.

This week, it feels like dragging myself out of bed at 0700 every day means that work is interfering with my life. But that's partly due to having just had two weeks off, paid for by previous work...

A year ago there was a program about amazon and the work rate for the picker staff that stayed the same high relentless pace over the eight hour shift. If you treat yourself and others like robots then you will eventually get breakdowns. All warehouse locations of guilty of wrongly fixing time and motion calculations which are great for profits but generate low moral and a high costly turnover of experienced and trained staff.

The work life balance is a utopian myth. It is desirable and at the same time impossible to achieve through schemes like job sharing and flexible part time working.

(i) with just about every individual you could place in that job (as a function of individual traits and character, e.g. professional confidence, resilience to stress, experience, <etc.>)

(ii) over time, as a function of both 'life' factors (age, family, financial situation <etc.>) and 'work' factors (temporarily excessive workload, new/added responsibilities, new training needs <etc.>).

I daresay a work-life balance changes for everyone over time, at times more promptly, at times more slowly.

When I was very young, around twelve years old, I realised a lot of people cause their own stress. In my experience, a lot of people put off jobs they would rather not do and do the 'easy' tasks first or leave things until the last minute. This then builds up so they feel they have too much to do and feel under pressure. They also fail to tackle issues that are bothering them so they fester and cause stress. As a child, this happened to me because I used to be very shy and lack confidence. I learned that life is so much easier if you get the things you dread out out the way rather than leave them to make you feel pressured. The same with organisational skills and time management. If you get your work done as soon as possible then you can afford to devote time elsewhere when something urgent crops up or an unforeseen event or opportunity arises.

If you have a fear or worry, get it sorted, ask for help or advice. If you need help with the business get help there too.

In short, get your priorities right and you should be able to get the balance right (for you) between your work and private life. I'm not saying it will always be 'perfect' but you should be in control and have a clear goal/path/strategy/plan of action. I am a really detailed planner and list maker, I plan and prepare months in advance. This helps me deal with the peaks and troughs in my business (due to customer production requirements) and enjoy what I do while still having a life outside of work.

What if you could make your work an hobby, would this help?

If it hurts you - don't do it.