A couple of days ago I read this article by a lady who was the founder of a start-up and she had a whole different take on the work life balance question. She felt that it’s not something that you should focus on and that if your work is a major part of your life then having artificial boundaries about allowed topics of discussion / things is not correct.
The article made me think about the pro’s and cons of having a work life balance.I have in the past worked in companies where we have worked 14-18 hours a day and I have worked in companies where I was out of the office at 6pm everyday.
I think that having a work life balance is good, actually I think it’s essential. You can sustain the insane hours over a short period of time but in the long term it’s not sustainable. I am not saying that once you leave the office don’t have any conversations related to work, that is not realistic. But make an effort to disconnect frequently.It will help recharge your mental energies and let you come back refreshed and eager to work.
I am one of the last people to tell folks not to work too much because I have a tendency of spending too much time working if what I am working is something interesting. But I have seen from personal experience when I take a break from work and do something unrelated it helps me focus and get things done.
In the course of the normal day I read, watch some shows to decompress and once a month I try to go for a trek/trip and over the past two years I have seen what a difference it makes in my sanity and ability to deliver projects. When I go for these trips I don’t check office emails. I have spent some time talking about work with folks but for the most part I disconnect from work. The idea is to stop worrying about work and focus on other things for a while. If conversation or idea related to work does come up then don’t stress about it either, spend a few mins on the topic and then go back to whatever you were doing. Trust me it will help.
I have seen that some of the best ideas I have had have come to me when I was doing something other than work/actively thinking about the problem.
At my previous job I used to go for evening snacks with the team and one of the semi-enforced rules was that for the duration of the snacking conversations related to work were discouraged. We would talk about other stuff like hobbies, movies, travel etc. It helped us know each other better and become a more tightly integrated team. If a work related topic came up we would all discuss it for a bit and then someone or other would say something to the effect of ‘no work related talks’ and we would stop. But if the issue was interesting enough we have spent significant time discussing it as well.
So having a hard and fast rule is not a good idea. You should be flexible and take it as it happens.
What do you think? Is work life balance something to stride for?