A Musing on the Life/Time Balance Equation
Warning: This one is a big musing and ramble. There are some good things here otherwise I wouldn’t have posted it. Apologies in advance for forcing you to parse through the musing for the good stuff.
While on our recent vacation on the Iberian Peninsula, we had the occasion to visit the Pompidou Museum in Malaga. The focus of the current exhibit was on Time and how we spend it in a post pandemic environment. Rarely have I found a exhibit to be as interesting and provocative as this one. It was also timely as I have been spending tons of mental cycles both trying to realign the meaning of time for myself in a post exit environment as well as trying to better understand how to guide founders better on how they balance time on their journeys. The big mental breakthrough for me from this was ending the myth of Work/Life balance as a thing rather we are really trying to balance the components of Time that make up our Life.
Generally speaking we have three Time components in our everyday lives: Time spent working for compensation (working for yourself or an employer in exchange for money); Time spent doing personal work (chores, Dr appointments, taking care of family) and Time spent on Leisure activities (doing whatever it is you want to be doing which includes sleep). How we juggle those elements of Time how we measure our satisfaction in our lives. So the idea of there being only Work and Life to balance can be quickly debunked when looking at all of the relevant time components. Some people enjoy working a lot with little time for leisure. For them this is balance. Others may need more time for personal work in their lives and they are seeking to trade this for less work time spent. Finally many of us strive for the ability to maximize our leisure time and perform as little work or any sort both for compensation or personal chores. Whether that is truly the best for many of us is a different topic for a different day.
In today’s work environment there is a ongoing active and somewhat heated discussion around work and where it takes place. Many decided that post pandemic the return to the office was not necessary and that remote work allowed for more balance of time elements in Life. This dialogue was mislabeled as the Work/Life balance discussion. In reality, I think what many people want is more flexibility from their employer to be able to better manage the two components of personal work time and Leisure time.
While I get this, it should be acknowledged that a vast majority of the workforce doesn’t have the luxury of that flexibility. Their jobs require them to physically operate equipment to produce value. On the other side of the spectrum, the cost of this new model of flexibility to the employer has yet to be fully understood. Taxes, engagement and abuse of privilege are all things employers are now having to contend with in this new archetype. Whether this model yields better results for employers is yet to be seen but my bet is the answer will be no. This no is a broadly applied no not focused on any one company or industry. Certain companies can thrive in this model many will not.
Getting back to the Life balance equation I think we all have to decide for ourselves how we want to balance the sacrifices made to achieve outcomes for ourselves and our families. Something I think that gets forgotten in this discussion is the idea that the equation requires sacrifice. When we choose to spend less time working for compensation then we have less to spend on our personal time and specifically our leisure time. I have a colleague who lives at the beach who is educated and skilled. He chooses to work only two days a week so that he can spend time surfing and pursuing more leisure related hobbies. He lives very simply in a small rental apartment. Has a simple car and doesn’t do extravagant trips or anything (based on casual observation). He’s happy and he’s found balance for his life equation. Many of us would have embraced the notion of working only two days per week but we would reject living as simply as he does as well.
In the end you are extremely blessed if you are even able to have a discussion about how you adjust your Life/Time Balance equation. Many people don’t have that luxury at all in their lives. Be humble and mindful about how you spend your time. Be respectful of your employer and fellow team members around how your needs may conflict with their needs. Finally stop calling it Work/Life Balance and call it what it is- The balance of how you spend your time to have the life you want to live.
