Last weekend I was out walking near the River Severn in Gloucestershire, England, with a friend I had not seen for a while. We had lots of great conversation to catch up on. It was a rather impromptu walk as we had both been busy in our worlds of work and neither of us had been out walking in the mud for a while. Also, as we live in different parts of the country we can always make the excuse that it is not easy. A grabbed opportunity saw us munching some lovely French pastries and drinking hot spiced juice by our cars prior to setting off.
The term ‘work life balance’ has been gaining ground for some years. It is meant to recognize the need to balance our work with other parts of our life. This walk got me thinking about the phrase I use, rather than this misused term.
I have to confess that the term ‘work life balance’ has never sat comfortably with me even though it is in wide use. Why, you may ask. Well, it is rather simple really. If you think of a set of old fashioned scales with the weights placed on one side with the item to be weighed on the other you can conjure up a good picture. So, with this in mind if you put more work into one scale pan, you have to put more non-work activities into the other pan. Likewise if you put less work into one pan the other pan needs less non-work activity to make it balance. This is just daft………I hope you agree!
Also, it makes work and non-work two very different things –they are both a part of who we are. Over the past few years I have coined the phrase ‘work life blend’. This to me is what it is about. The blend of life with work. Work is a part of who we are and we should be proud of what we do, whatever that is. I have seen people who are so proud and brilliant at what they do. I have seen others scrape through and have no pride. That applies no matter whether they are fulfilling an unskilled role or from professional backgrounds.
We should never feel guilty about our work and feel the need to ‘balance the scales’. Yes, we ought to be respectful of our use of time with those who are part of our lives, although to my mind that is a very different thing. Some people in parts of the world have a massively tough time and work is vital to sustain life at the basic level. That is why for those who are more fortunate creating that blend should be what we strive for.
The walk by the River Severn last weekend was a great part of my blend……..so are you creating a balance, or a blend in your life?
Peter
