Often we find ourselves at the centre of a tug-of-war, being pulled by forces in opposite directions that could leave us exhausted and stressed. While on one side, our work life demands our time, so that we can touch greater heights of success; on the other side, our family life demands our quality time, to keep everybody at home emotionally bonded and happy. Irrespective of who wins over the other, we find ourselves either guilty of not being able to give quality time to the family or feel stressed for not being able to complete our office work on time. In order to deal with the situation, sometimes people to give more time to the work with hope that it would eventually raise the standard of living and make their personal lives better. On the other hand, there are situations when people prefer giving more time to family so that they can enjoy the life they have been working for. Both the attempts can further disrupt the balance if the adjustments are not made carefully. ...As a matter of fact, work and family life have a strong correlation. Change in one can lead to serious implications on the other. That’s why today, many studies are being done to know about the optimum way of striking a balance between the two.
It can be a question of debate that is it not the employer’s responsibility to grant a work-life balance to the employees. True; and that is why efforts are being made by many companies to promote that culture. However, relying on company’s support is one thing and taking an individual responsibility to maintain that balance is a different task altogether. And, when it comes to the latter, it requires a lot of discipline. ...
Some of the common techniques to avoid a work-life balance are better planning the tasks, time management, and prioritisation. However, these techniques fail if they are not well aligned with important aspects of life such as 1. What are you family values? 2. What stage of life and career you are in right now? 3. What are your individual preferences? etc. Imagine what would happen if you give priority to work when your family really needs you? Yes, it would lead to an imbalance and the whole family may have to suffer, ultimately leading to a stressful life. No matter, how hard you may try to prevent a work-life clash but there would be times when there is conflict between the two. The big question then arises-“Work or Life- Who do I choose?”...
While there are a lot of practices that can help us either prevent or cure the problem, is there any simple practice that can help us achieve both? Could it be any technique which not only helps in prevention, but would also help us dramatically if the imbalance has already been established? To know that one technique which can help us restore the missing work-life balance and its innumerable benefits, read the complete article in Apr'19 edition of English Akhand Gyan Monthly Magazine.
