Work is part of life, isn’t it?

Work/life balance is an odd and variously employed idea. I bet you think you know what it means. I certainly do. One problem - I bet you and I have different ideas about "work/life balance" maybe even opposite ideas.

Placing the words, "work" "life" and "balance" in the same phrase assumes that there is the potential for these two things to be out of whack, even in opposition to one another. Isn't work a part of life? or are you only alive after hours? We live in a dualistic world and the notion of work/life balance is one contemporary manifestation of this either/or way of living.

So time for a wake up call: If your life only begins when work ends you have a problem. Work is an essential part of life - expressing our creativity, our generativity, our productivity is part of the Creator's intent for us. We are not designed to for a chez lounge life. We are designed for a fulfilling life with work and integral part of what we do and who we are. This may be more a theological concept (stewardship) as it is a management/leadership concept.

So the next time I hear about work/life balance I think I am going to puke. Yes, I think we need balance, but balance is not an end in itself, it is a means. We need to ask 'what larger ends require us to balance?' Let me suggest setting priorities and boundaries. These of course require that we practice our ability to balance. But they are ends worth a real conversation.