Finding a balance
I have trouble with the phrase ‘work – life balance’. It implies that work is something separate from the rest of ‘life’, and that something called ‘life’ is more important than work.
And what is ‘work’ anyway? For some it means paid work only, and for others it includes household chores or caring responsibilities, or attending a dinner party when you’d rather stay at home and watch Big Brother. In other cases, there are people who love their jobs, sometimes for the social contact rather than for the work itself, and don’t consider their employment to be ‘work’ at all.
As I get older I find I balance my working time instinctively. I’m a last-minute person, so I tend to oscillate between spending long hours on something urgent and more leisurely periods of reading, filing, catching up on e-mails and of course preparing for the next crisis, which wouldn’t occur if I worked at a more consistent pace. But luckily I have a lot of control over my time, and out-of-hours access to my office, and so I get by.
So where does that leave ‘life’? – all those other keywords such as relationships, friendships, reading, music, politics, socialising, travelling, cooking, and even blogging? Well again, for me a lot of this takes place in the very grey area between work and the rest. If I read a book on Irish history it’s interesting in itself but can also help me with my research. I’ve met many of my good friends through work, and sometimes when we meet up we talk about our jobs. I use examples from my travels when teaching, whether or not the trip was funded by my employer.
Of course there are other times when what I do has nothing to do with work, and I’m glad of the chance to switch off for a while. But my point is that sometimes it’s just not realistic to seek balance between different aspects of our lives in the short term because they are so intertwined – and I would argue that short-term and carefully managed obsession with one thing can be a creative and productive approach.
Perhaps the best we can do is to try to achieve balance over the course of a lifetime, and to make time for the things that matter to us.
4 comments:
Jenny, thank you for the link - I hope you didn't feel pressurised. I know how much pressure you academics come under already (dr. em holds a similar position to your own) and I would not like to feel that I have contributed unfairly to that load in any way.
As for work - fortunately I am now in a job that basically runs 9.00 to 5.00 and I can forget about it as soon as I catch the bus home but sometimes have to lend a shoulder to dr. em to lean on - so we try to make the most of spare time and holidays. Perhaps the best we can do is to try to tip the balance over the course of a lifetime, in favour of the things that matter to us. Difficult sometimes, I know, but perhaps if we keep slugging away then just maybe we can come ahead on points.
Dr A - no, I don't tend to bow to pressure on this blog, as you may have noticed! In terms of jobs, dr. em is very fortunate - I know I appreciate Nick's support when I'm really busy. And you are right, we just need to keep in mind what's important to us.
I guess I'm very lucky Jenny in that I have always operated on the premise that my business is one of the most personal things I do so the lines are very blurred for me. I know everyone's secrets so there is a high intimacy levelwith my clients.
A major flaw is I tend to be a huge procrastinator or I will underestimate or overestimate a project timewise.
I also have tremendous difficulty in giving myself permission to totally goof off. I'm working on that, just going out with the camera and ambling around.
Balance?
No idea what that is!
XO
WWW
www - couldn't have put it better myself! I don't think there's a word for the type of connection those of us experience when our jobs sort of flow into the rest of our lives and vice versa - it's the opposite of compartmentalisation, I suppose.
Post a Comment