Work/life balance is a misnomer and a miscalculation.
A concept that's been around since the 80s, work/life balance has a simple motivation: to make workers mindful of the time they spend working. It's supposed to serve as an impetus to living a life that's not dominated by work; thus enabling one to engage in more non-work activities (e.g., time for family, friends, leisure activities, etc.).
It sounds like simple math: reduce the time you spend working and increase the time you spend not working and voila! Your life is balanced. Busy adults with demanding jobs and lives know that this equation is fundamentally flawed and contains too many variables for the efficacy of the work/life balance concept to take hold.
When you consider that the average commute in the US is 25 minutes (though I know few people with this commute time), and you double your travel upon your return home, this brings your total commute time to one hour. Tack on the 8 conventional hours that you spend at work, plus the 8 hours of sleep that adults are supposed to get, and poof! 17 hours are accounted for. How much time is left? 7 hours.
How can you possibly bring balance to your day, week, month, year, or life with within these parameters? The answer is you can't. This is why work/life integration is a much more realistic and attainable goal than work/life balance. In fact, the beauty of work/life integration is that it's more of a lifestyle choice than a goal. This is why so many workers are finding greater fulfillment in their professional and personal lives as a result of it.
So what is work/life integration? Work‐life Integration is an outcome of people exercising control and choice in their life to meet life’s challenges. Why does it work? Because it isn't a mere concept that hinges on wishful thinking; it's a holistic strategy that empowers you to blend - not balance - your obligations and desires into a 24-hour time frame. All you need is the vision, gumption, and willingness to take control of your work demands to make it a reality.
Below, Brent Barootes expounds upon work/life integration.
So what is work/life integration? Work‐life Integration is an outcome of people exercising control and choice in their life to meet life’s challenges. Why does it work? Because it isn't a mere concept that hinges on wishful thinking; it's a holistic strategy that empowers you to blend - not balance - your obligations and desires into a 24-hour time frame. All you need is the vision, gumption, and willingness to take control of your work demands to make it a reality.
Below, Brent Barootes expounds upon work/life integration.
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