Comments on: Rethinking the Idea of “Work/Life Balance”

By: Ali

Ali — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 16:23:15 +0000

Cheers Geeth – glad you’re enjoying the blog!

And yes, I think there’s often company pressure on people to work longer hours. It’s a shame; few people can work effectively for more than 7-8 hours at a stretch, and any intense, creative work (like writing) can only realistically be done for 3-4 hours a day.

By: Geeth

Geeth — Sat, 15 Jan 2011 18:16:04 +0000

Hi Ali,
Just discovered your blog. What you said resonates with my thoughts also. The company which i work for boasts of work/life balance but i only find people working more and more because i see people leaving an hour before one day(that too after many requests and follow ups) and putting in extra hours from the next day. And work and life are not separate. Never does perfect balance exists between them. One definitely affects the other.
Loved reading your blog by the way!

By: Ali

Ali — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 14:09:29 +0000

Thanks for the recommendation! I’m trying to resist buying new books at the moment but will keep it in mind for a future buy…

By: Manpreet

Manpreet — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 19:19:38 +0000

Very thoughtful article. For a fresh take on building strong careers and families, check out Getting to 50/50 — on how men and women share roles with all sorts of good results — including a healthier sex life. The book also debunks some common myths that cause many moms to back away from their jobs. Authors Sharon Meers (a Goldman MD now in tech) and Joanna Strober (a private equity exec) share their often funny tales of combining work and family. Definitely a book worth checking out. http://www.gettingto5050.blogspot.com

By: Ali

Ali — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 18:20:52 +0000

Thanks, Laura! It’s really good to hear about an organisation that’s getting it right — that sounds awesome.

And you’re right, it is tougher for small companies. I think the advantage with a smaller firm, though, is that they tend to be more naturally “human” rather than huge and bound up in red tape. That family feeling is a great one when it works.

By: Laura Horn

Laura Horn — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 15:01:24 +0000

Hi Ali
I’ve only just discovered your blog – great post. This is a topic of great interest to me. I absolutely agree with you that the concept of work/life balance makes it out as if work and life are two quite separate things which is ridiculous. I disagree that organisation’s only offer work life balance as a way of getting more productivity and results from the employees, this is of course the theory or the justification for a work life balance program but in my experience many organisations do it out of a realisation that employees are human. One of the organisation’s I worked for made a point of branding their work/life balance program “Links – linking work and life together” as a deliberate recognition that the two interconnected. The organisation I work for currently has fantastic work life balance initiatives and I do not believe it is to extract as much out of the employee as possible, if anything I think it favours employees more – being flexible, offering part time hours, social events, maternity leave, gym memberships etc all come at a cost particularly for small organisations but some organisations see their employees almost like family members and look after them accordingly.

By: olga

olga — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 23:18:52 +0000

It’s like you read my mind )) Thanks for putting it into such greatly structured piece!

By: Ali

Ali — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 17:21:32 +0000

I think “life balance” is a nicer term!

I don’t think there *needs* to be an agenda behind it, but as I see it, the balance (ho ho) is currently skewed towards the employer rather than the employee. Of course there are some great employers, big and small, who genuinely care about their people (I like Mark Silver from Heart of Business, who has a great take on the place of love in business) … but all too often, I feel that companies are basically just concerned with employees – and for that matter, customers – as numbers not as humans.

I like your post and your take on the phrase, particularly when you say “What you can’t do is balance something with itself or its subcategory!” — Yes, exactly!

By: Haider

Haider — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:39:07 +0000

Hi Ali,

I definitely agree with your take on the “work/life balance” term. I prefer to use “life balance” to mean balancing all aspects within our lives (and work being a piece of the pie). I wrote an article on Why I Hate the “Work-Life Balance” Expression, so I’m thrilled to see you take a jab at it.

But I don’t think there’s an agenda behind “life balance.” Just because employers get to benefit from life balance doesn’t mean that they’re using the notion to control or undermine their workers. Of course, everything is open to exploitation (or misuse), and life balance is no exception. But it’s more beneficial to the employee than the employer, in my humble opinion.
.-= Haider´s last blog ..Productivity Woes Over Google’s Pac-Man Game =-.

By: Balancing Work and … Work — Aliventures

Balancing Work and … Work — Aliventures — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 13:08:40 +0000

[...] is the second part in a series on balance. If you missed part one (Rethinking the Idea of Work/Life Balance), you might want to skip back and read that [...]