Work-Life Balance Exists But Unfortunately, It Is Practically A Myth

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder of Paytm once quoted, “Work-life balance is such an overrated thing. If you enjoy something, you don’t balance it, you do more of it.”

As usual, I woke up in the morning and started thinking about my agenda and schedule for the day? What assignments do I have on hand today? Yes, one thing that keeps me charged at the beginning and the rest of the day is that my job is not just a job but, it is my passion. I love doing what I do which is what makes my life.

So even if I have practically finished the work and I am unwinding at home, some great ideas hit me. I immediately jot them down in my mobile. Well, I carry my work along with me each minute. If you are so involved with your work, how can you feel stressed? You would only enjoy it and want to keep doing more of it. How in such circumstances can there be a work-life balance?

Our work is passion driven. In such a case to switch off our minds from professional work while we are at home isn’t possible nor practical. Often some great ideas hit our mind, during our leisure time, while relaxing we arrive at a solution to a complex problem we have been working since months.

As you step into your private life, can you switch off your professional life? No, it isn’t possible in this age, where most of us are extremely engaged in our work. Companies highly appreciate employees who are involved with their work to an extent that they crave for creativity. Creativity has no limits, it strikes at moments least expected and demands extreme involvement.

Employee Engagement is vital these days. Employers look out for the teams that are more engaged and involved with their work to be more productive and efficient. This involvement sometimes comes along with the fine print, ‘You cannot have a work-life balance’.

These days we can all access our office through phones, tablets and laptops. Our work is saved on the cloud and can be accessed from anywhere. So, in such a changed scenario is it possible to have a work-life balance? Our work and personal lives are integrated. We cannot compartmentalise them and our families too have accepted it. Today, we place our professional life higher than the personal life, keeping the theory alive there’s no comparison between those two.

We are purpose driven and most of us have clearly defined our goals and achieving them is of prime importance to us. In such a case, we are sure the time and efforts we take to fulfil an organisation’s goal takes us closer to ours as well. We align our goals with the organisation’s goals as well.

Juggling both our personal and work life is an art that we have learnt. And we need to unlearn a lot many things that keep us away to crave for more. Instead of getting stressed about ‘How do we maintain a work-life balance?’ We need to work with our own self to live with it.

If you compartmentalise your private and work life, creativity gets stifled. This can also limit our opportunities and exposure to new ideas. Our priority is clearly to be successful and happy, and we want to achieve more and more in our career, our aspirations have risen to an extent that the thin line between professional and personal life has dwindled.

Alain de Botton has nailed the myth of work-life balance, There is no such thing as work-life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.

On a contrary note, if you are willing to strike the balance between work and life, here’s the thought process that will keep you productive as well.