#11 — Work-life balance is bullshit
Work-life balance is an important aspect of a healthy work environment. But far too often we look to others to define it for us. Dividing your time 50–50 or 45–55 is crap. Work-life balance means something a little different to everyone. Nobody should impose their work/life balance on others without the context of their lives, their upbringings and their ambitions.
So lets make it simple and end the debate.
It is all about choices. You make the choices, you go after them and live with the consequences. Good and bad, and you don’t wait for someone to convince you it should be 50–50 or 45–55. You make the choices, you do the thing, and you live with the consequences.
Accept that there is no ‘perfect’ work-life balance. Don’t strive for the perfect schedule; strive for a realistic one. Some days, you might focus more on work, while other days you might have more time and energy to pursue your hobbies or spend time with your loved ones. Balance is what you achieve over time, not each day.
If you hate what you do, you aren’t going to be happy, plain and simple. You don’t need to love every aspect of your job, but it needs to be exciting enough that you don’t dread getting out of bed every morning. If your job is draining you, and you are finding it difficult to do the things you love outside of work, something is wrong.
Balance isn’t something you find. It’s something you create.
