“The pressure of an increasingly demanding work culture in the UK is perhaps the biggest and most pressing challenge to the mental health of the general population”. That is a statement from the Mental Health Foundation in the UK and wow, what a powerful statement it is. A UK study found that one third of respondents feel unhappy or very unhappy about the time they devote to work. Despite the every-growing desire for more balance, is it truly achievable?
Before I delve into the question, I would like to share with you some statistics to reinforce how important this topic is. According to research from the Mental Health Foundation:
- One in six of us will experience a mental health problem in any given week
- More than 40% of employees are neglecting other aspects of their life because of work, which may increase their vulnerability to mental health problems
- When working long hours more than a quarter of employees feel depressed (27%), one third feel anxious (34%), and more than half feel irritable (58%)
- the more hours you spend at work, the more hours outside of work you are likely to spend thinking or worrying about it
- As a person’s weekly hours increase, so do their feelings of unhappiness
- Many more women report unhappiness than men (42% of women compared with 29% of men), which is probably a consequence of competing life roles and more pressure to ‘juggle’
- Nearly two thirds of employees have experienced a negative effect on their personal life, including lack of personal development, physical and mental health problems, and poor relationships and poor home life.
In order to understand whether or not a healthy work life balance is achievable, we need to understand exactly what it is. The dictionary definition of work life balance is ““the division of one’s time and focus between working and family or leisure activities”.
To some degree I see that definition as correct, however I believe a fundamental component, essential to achieving the “healthy” aspect, is joy. Finding joy in an activity is a critical component of creating a healthy environment. Let’s explore what I mean by this.
As the above definition shows, a work life balance is the division of one’s time and focus between work and family/ leisure. Now, what if you enjoyed your work more than your leisure activities? What if your home environment was not a healthy one? Would spending more time and focus at work be as mentally and physically taxing? Here are some examples to help explain what I mean (note: the names are completely made up).
Sarah, on a working Visa in the UK from Australia, lives alone if an apartment. Sarah is new to the country, has no friends or family, but is working in her dream job. She loves what she does, thoroughly enjoys the company of her colleagues, finds herself spending 13/14 hours a day at work and often socialises with her colleagues after work. When Sarah calls home, her parents tell her that she needs to find a better work life balance. She tries this, by working less hours and trying to explore the UK, but finds herself unhappy.
John, who has a family of four based in Birmingham, travels 4 hours a day to work in the South. He spends a lot of his time away from his family working to pay the bills, but is miserable. John would much rather spend more time with his family. John speaks to his boss who tells him that he needs to find a better work life balance and allows him to work one day a week from home on a Monday. John now loves Monday’s as he’s at home, but hates the rest of the week.
These two examples are completely different, yet have the same core issue. They are striving for a work life balance, but are misplacing their time and focus. Sarah finds joy in her work, but is now placing her time and focus to other activities which is making her unhappy. John finds joy in his family, but is spending his time and focus on work and travelling which is making him unhappy. To overcome these difficult yet similar issues, they both need reposition their time and focus into what brings them joy.
Although, there is one key element that must be understood. Our lives are in a constant ebb and flow where the only real constant is change. This constant evolution of our lives means that what may bring us joy one day, may not the next. To overcome this challenge we must focus on the first core principle of leadership; being adaptable.
So, to revisit the original question, “is a work life balance truly achievable?” The answer is yes, however this answer comes with a big caveat. The caveat is, as explain above, that our lives are constantly changing and that we need to evolve alongside it. It we, as people, remain too constant and become too comfortable, our needs change which we will fail to recognise. We must understand that our position of joy will change and that is ok, as long as we accept that we must take action and change with it.
Thanks for reading, JT.
If you need more of a walkthrough guide on how to master your time to enable your to find a balance, then I put together a short and affordable course to help. Click the link below.
Sources:
- Mental Health (2020). Available at: https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/w/work-life-balance