The Kylie Balance - Work, Life, Balance
...term commonly used and discussed these days. Places of work often refer to people having or needing to have a Work Life Balance, giving the concept a very organisational feel. But in reality, it is a term whose meaning and relevance is indeed unique to a person’s specific circumstances and needs, thus intricately personal.
While from an organisational level it urges a distinction and some flexibility between work and non work-related pursuits, and it highlights the need to reassess one’s personal situation, the concept itself, is problematic. Work. Life. Balance. Is that order right? Do we focus on work, get that working (no pun intended!) and then think, life? Add aspects of ‘life’ into the equation and then stand back and consider, are these two important factors balanced?
Perhaps it should be Life Work Balance. After all, don’t we live before we work? Or perhaps it really should just focus on Personal Balance – in my case, The Kylie Balance?
In my mind, the concept of Work Life Balance (The Kylie Balance!) is all about the ability to stand back from one’s world and appropriately consider and see what’s happening, what’s important – and what’s not. Only when you stand back rather than being embroiled in life and work, can you really see clarity to assess if things are really working.
As an individual, my opinion on work life balance is unique to my own personal and work-related ideas, ethics and goals. It is based on my personal feelings of satisfaction between my needs as an individual in my personal life and also in my working life. And understanding that life and work change, and the value proposition between the two changes also, it is relatively simple for me to see that as my career has evolved, so too has the balance shifted between work and life – sometimes under my direction, sometimes not!
But while this might not be challenging for me to see,...
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