Work-life balance isn't real (here's what to do instead)
I've been struggling recently but here are some thoughts I'm working through.
Welcome back to sketchy ideas.
It’s been a while so let’s dive into the interesting links.
Interesting links
Rob Dimeo shares a sketchnote with some of his go-to cartooning tools. If you want to add more toons to your sketchnotes, give them a try.
This sketchnote by Xrenobl really stood out to me. The use of shapes and colours caught my attention, and the topic is interesting too!
Stefan Kunz is a pro of lettering and now animation too. I love this little video showcasing three levels of animation difficulty. Are you using animation in your visual creations? Maybe you (and I!) could start with the first level?
In case you missed it…
A couple of weeks back I shared a sketchnote on how to build a powerful LinkedIn presence from a talk by Chris Do of The Futur and Jasmin Alic. I’ve made a few small tweaks to my profile since I made it but I still need to make a few more changes.
I hear more and more sketchnoters and visual creators say they are getting business from LinkedIn above any other platform so it’s worth investing in.
Work-life balance doesn’t exist (here’s what to do instead)
Sorry, work-life balance isn’t real. It’s harmful.
The idea emerged in the early 2000s as we started to deal with the effects of the Internet on our work and leisure. The premise was simple: find time for your work as well as what gives you rest. What could possibly be wrong with that?
It turns out, everything.
Managers used it to pressure employees to burnout
Culture now says you have to make the most of your leisure time too
We feel guilt and frustration when we fail to achieve the elusive work-life balance
But work and life aren’t two distinct categories
Every second you exist is life.
And plenty of time outside of the office involves stress and strain — work. When I was a teacher, I spent hours outside of the classroom planning. And I’d often have a moment of inspiration for a class during a moment of relaxing.
But it works the other way too.
In the workplace, we can have engaging conversations, do tasks that feel like play and sometimes even…relax. And I don’t even have to mention when a kid comes into the home office.
We need a different approach than “balance.”
Integration, not balance
Instead of a balance between two poles, it’s better to aim for integration and harmony.
This doesn’t mean you work all the time and never rest, instead, it’s about making all of your life, including work, family and rest, match your values and goals. This will mean different things for different people but here’s the good news — you don’t need to be the best at everything.
Integration is about living life on your terms, not keeping up with everyone else.
A few practical ideas
If you’d like some practical ideas, these might help.
Write out your values, what you love to do, and what gives you energy
Identify what is lacking from your list at the moment.
Brainstorm ideas for how you could integrate those values in any part of your life
Identify busier and more stressful periods at home and in the office and adapt both spheres to cope.
Set some clear boundaries without distractions and work (i.e. family time/meetings with friends).
Looks for ways to combine some activities (i.e. take work calls while going for a walk)
Seek workplaces where flexible scheduling and clear communication are the norm. You want a situation where you can start work later or earlier because of a family commitment.
The point isn’t to combine work and life everywhere, boundaries are still good, but to be more flexible while focusing on your core values. Combining activities where possible, and acknowledging when one area of your life is more difficult will help to not be weighed down.
If you have other ideas, I’d love to hear them.
Avoid burnout by complimenting, not competing
Work-life balance has caused countless burnouts by driving us to be overwhelmed in every aspect of our lives.
By seeking integration, we can live meaningful lives without exhaustion.
Till next time
Sorry for the delays between newsletters. It’s been a hectic time and I’m adjusting my creating and publishing times to help myself create more consistently. It’s why I wrote this essay as it’s something I’ve been thinking about for myself.
Part of the reason I love sketchnoting is because it’s a creative activity that doesn’t feel draining after a day of work (writing a newsletter can be a different feeling 😉)
I’m grateful for your understanding and I look forward to seeing you next week.
Nice links this week to some people who I did not know about. 😊
I fully support integration in harmony for work and downtime, but the truth of the matter is that there are still employers who want to take advantage of salary workers, ignoring things like boundaries of personal time and demands beyond the set amount of hours. I turned down a job this week for that very reason.
It is because of this very problem that laws are being put into place around the globe to help employees who would otherwise feel trapped. Belgium, Portugal, and other European countries have put laws in place to prohibit managers from contacting employees outside of working hours, and California in the US is considering similar legislation.
Let us hope that we can all find balance in our lives.