Comments on: A New Take on Work-Life Balance

By: Erica OGrady

Erica OGrady — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 05:23:17 +0000

@CathD – It’s interesting, because I can totally see your point. In fact, there is a line in The Fountainhead where Howard Roark says:

“But you see,” said Roark quietly, “I have, let’s say, sixty years to live. Most of that time will be spent working. I’ve chosen the work I want to do. If I find no joy in it, then I’m only condemning myself to sixty years of torture. And I can find the joy only if I do my work in the best way possible to me. But the best is a matter of standards–and I set my own standards. I inherit nothing. I stand at the end of no tradition. I may, perhaps, stand at the beginning of one.”

And I completely agree – your work should (in a perfect world) be your passion. But I also think anything in excess can be a bad thing. To paraphrase the Dalai Lama – One piece of chocolate cake is delectable, a second piece is good, but a third piece is misery. Anything taken to extremes can be bad.

One of the biggest lessons I learned this year was that things will never be “finished”. I’ll never – no matter how hard I try – or how many hours I put in – be finished with everything at the same time. There will always be an emergency in some area of my life. There will always be something I “could” or “should” be doing. So sometimes, I just need to stop and take a moment for myself.

By: Jean Browman--Cheerful Monk

Jean Browman--Cheerful Monk — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 03:13:24 +0000

Mainly I keep in mind Thoreau’s “Our lives are frittered away in details. Simplify. Simplify.” I believe in moodling time, so my life is rich rather than busy.

By: Arswino

Arswino — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 14:02:45 +0000

Hi Jodie, the balance between work and life becomes my challenge, because now I am doing two works simultaneously.
Thanks for the tips, Jodie. It is useful.

By: Lisa Gates

Lisa Gates — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 08:01:37 +0000

The name of my business and my work are stakes in the ground for creating balance, but the funny thing is that I don’t think there’s any such thing as work-life balance. As long as we equate balance with equilibrium or having it all, or keeping all our life domains separate, we miss the point. Balance doesn’t have a set point because it’s dynamic, ever moving, even when we’re sleeping on the beach. Like Flora says, if we were to live from our values, make choices based on what’s really truly important to us, balance ceases to be an issue. It’s less about the tools and strategies, and much more about moment to moment choices.

I think we’re after integration. Work-life integration, or even life integration. Seeking wholeness, completeness, and really, joy.

2 cents

By: Chris Edgar | Purpose Power Coaching

Chris Edgar | Purpose Power Coaching — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 21:26:24 +0000

Thanks for this post. What I find is that I start running into “work-life balance”-type concerns when I stop thinking about what I want out of life and start obsessing over all the things I “should” or “have to” do. When I remember that no one is creating those “shoulds” or “have tos” but me, and that I have a lot more choice than I often think, that sense of pressure subsides.

By: Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D.

Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 17:19:54 +0000

One thing that has helped me is giving up on perfection and learning to say “no.” I always enjoyed my work and personal activities, but found my plans getting derailed at one time in my life by trying to meet others’ requests and neglecting some of my own plans.

I agree with Ryan that balance does not mean equal, therefore determining your core values and doing what flows from them will be gratifying, give joy and strike the perfect balance.