A Balancing Act

An oft-used misnomer is that of “work-life balance”. Umpteen number of times does a CXO get asked on how they manage it. More so if the said individual is from the fairer sex. One would wonder why this should be referred to as a ‘misnomer’; simply because there is nothing like it- in the true sense of the word, “work-life” being used along with balance seems like they are two sides of a mechanical scale both of which needs to go in tandem in order to not tilt one way or the other, lest it causes havoc in the longer (manageable though it may seem in the shorter) term.

The point being that the coining of this terms itself makes it seem, that life resides outside of work or vice versa. The former denoting all that one wishes to spend time with as a busy executive or businessman and the latter being all that, that one ends up spending time and energy, both, on. Driven by the invisible desire of God-only-knows that- which one finds difficult to pin-point in several cases and in others, in order to define in terms of material gains (though not very often verbalized thus) or in higher levels of Maslow’s hierarchy in terms of that which gives one satisfaction or perhaps is what is enabling a larger good, thus justifying the means that leads to such ends.

The question remains if that is indeed the case- do work and life always run as mutually exclusive? For several who have had a parent in the corporate arena way before laptops and mobiles dawned on us in order to make 24X7 a cliché, they have seen folks run large organizations, managing all with elan without necessarily compromising upon what was the so-called “life” and neither did that mean that they did not do justice to their jobs or professions whatever it was that they engaged in. The tendency to let work override ‘life’ has been more prominent the more we have had the option of letting it do thus. Having once walked out of office in erstwhile pre-wired days, one had no option but to either carry a full box of papers home to plough through, or let it wait until the next day to give its due. Under very excruciating circumstances would one have to take the former course. It was a choice made and a very deliberate one at that too!

The ability to switch off is less aided by our wired world now. And thus leaves it to individuals themselves to make it happen. Enough wise people imparting ‘gyan’ on staying away from gadgets), finding time for peace and quiet, focusing on health, wellness and what have you. Ironically, most of this wisdom comes to us via digital channels. The conundrum thus remains as one switches across to these better causes, how is one expected to switch off and pursue “life” if the expectation of omnipresence or its equivalence of across times is always an unsaid, untold baton in the corporate race or people’s perception of it.

The issue is that as one begins the rat race, one is too timid and untrained to question the norms followed by many. And before one knows, that is the only way one seems to know. Several struggle despite their desire to break free, while others suffer from burnouts, all because of the stereotypes created in one’s mind based on the way of working of the levels immediately above. An example of a young Analyst, who was also an avid reader comes to mind. Our man was faced with an incredulous manager, when the latter was informed that the Analyst was engaged in reading a particular favorite author (not at work, of course)! Why? How did one find time to read a book, while on a client project! Of course, the assumption being, whether at work or outside of it, your time is sold to the client so anything other than the client’s work was criminal injustice of the highest order in the corporate world.

Important it is to get over the desire to constantly prove ourselves to be better than others even if it was at the cost of our health, our families and whatever else we otherwise would refer to as “life”. Recently someone shared about one of the great corporate leaders talking about how life for the young

managers cannot begin at the time you are nearing its end. Tempted as I was to retort on whether the same individual, well in his 80’s, would have said the same when he was in his 30’s. Yes, we need to have more people, earlier than that, talking and feeling the need to have life continue (and not begin) throughout life.

Especially living in India where competitiveness is a way of life, one must be even more careful, as do people we consider as our guides and mentors. Life is not about a race (thus making us all rats). We start with exams, clear several of them, hoping that just after this particular one will there be relief and a deserving break, only to land in the same situation in a matter of time once again, until we actually become rats in the race of the corporate tracks, constantly running, blurring the lines between life and work and all else.

For several the relief and realization comes in the form of a health scare or at times, of times gone by which could very well have been spent with a loved one or doing what one loved. But for several others, more so in the generation Z, there is a much higher ability to understand and enable all that would ensure work and life (assuming mutual exclusivity) are balanced. In fact, in several cases, the lines have blurred as more and more people pursue what is close to their heart or choose to make tough decisions on fronts of work, to pursue what they define as what life is made up of. In several cases, folks find time to pursue it all, not letting the boundaries blur but neither letting them to overrun across to the other side.

Perhaps a lesson to learn for the Gen X- the ones who listened to their parents and are also listening to their children! After all, work and life are like yin and yang- the balance of it (per public source) “seen to influence health and order within an individual, society, and the entire universe”