Life/Work Balance
Why do we insist on referring to a reasonable ratio of work in our lives as ‘Work Life Balance’?
With the research demonstrating that Play is vitally important to our mental and physical (and I would argue spiritual) health, why isn’t anybody talking about ‘Play/Life Balance’? We could just as easily discuss ‘Sleep/Life Balance too with the detrimental effects of sleep deprivation well documented and estimates that our poor sleeping habits cost Australia between $3 and $7 Billion dollars annually. But we don’t discuss these things.
Societally we think that Work is phenomenally more important than rest, play, health, sleep and in some cases even family. The phrase ‘Work/Life Balance’ really says it all. At best work is as important as the sum total of our lives outside of work. At worst it is more important than the sum total of our life outside work. We even put work first in the phrase, which in the English language denotes priority and importance. I have nothing against successful careers & ambition. I just question whether tunnel visioned focus on career doesn’t negatively impact the mind, body and network of the worker. I can’t see the joy of a fantastic career in a failing body, a miserable mind and scarcity of loved ones to share it with.
How did we get ourselves so far off track? Do we really think that on our death beds (which will arrive a whole lot quicker if we continue to worship work as we currently do) that we will smile happily that we were a CEO, worked outrageous hours of overtime and made sacrifices for our work? Or are we more likely to lament missed opportunities for walks along the beach, adventures unlived and not having said ‘i love you’ more often?
With the recession forcing our society to reassess past practices we are seeing people re-ordering priorities, re-evaluating career aspirations and making headway on achieving their dreams. Are we beginning, en mass, to realise that our legacy could be more than a high salary and positive performance reviews?
2 comments
Truly well written! I have a 6 month old boy myself and as a mother can appreicate that time when our little bundles are alseep. The moment their eyes close we try and fit in as many tasks possible into the short timeframe. A mutual friend passed your blog onto me and I found myself surrendering to your site and in particular thoroughly enjoyed the article on balance. Very well put.
Thank you for reading and taking the time to comment. I find there is a veil of silence surrounding some aspects of motherhood still, and hope other Mum’s relate to my experience and take heart.