Is work-life balance outdated?
We talk a lot about work-life balance since many people want to balance or fit the two together.
Different generations have tried different ways to make both work together, but the Generation Y workers and parents of today don’t believe that balance is possible and they see work and life as being blended.
I’m not sure there is one answer as work-life fit or balance may mean something different for each person.
We talk a lot about it, but in the end, some days work commands more attention and other days life commands attention, and often both demand you at the same time.
It’s just life and what works one day might not work another. We can talk about it, or we can, like Nike says, “Just Do It”.
I think the question is: do you work to live or live to work? There’s no right or wrong answer to this question, but it may help you clarify what’s important to you in life. We are all busy. As Henry David Thoreau once said, “so are the ants. The question is, what are we busy about?” If you are able to spend the best part of your time on the things that really matter to you – that speak to your highest values – then life works, and you don’t hear people complaining about work/life balance. Because, as you say, they are busy “just doing it”.