The misconception behind the work-life balance

Perfect balance between work and life - a good work-life balance occupies many people nowadays.
Especially during Corona pandemic, the desire for a balanced relationship between private and working life intensified. Driven by the change of mindset, the classic career concept has had its day: overtime, competition and presence times are no longer desired and the way of flexible New Work approaches. But how is it possible to work on both areas equally and is that even possible?

List of content: 

• What is work-life balance?

• Work-Life-Blending: the new balance

• Your next steps

What is work-life balance?

When hearing work-life balance, many people imagine a scenario in which the relationship between work and free time is perfectly balanced. Nothing has to be sacrificed, both professionally and privately, and there is enough time for hobbies and private goals. 

This interpretation suggests that life and work are opposing spheres of life that need to be reconciled.
But realistically, these areas are not separated, but closely intertwined: In fact, people spend about ⅓ of their daily life time working, thereby satisfying (partly unconscious) needs that are absolutely necessary for satisfaction and their own happiness. In addition to the financial aspect, these include above all the needs for social exchange and personal development. 

Therefore, working also always means living. But what happens now?
Instead of trying to create a spasmodic division, one should question what is really to be achieved with this supposed "balance".
Often it is the feeling of being able to live and work better with more structure that drives us to the topic of work-life balance.
This is a good idea, but it is usually accompanied by the following mistake: the changes are often based only on optimising self-management, which in turn aims to increase efficiency and squeeze more activities into the daily routine. Unfortunately, this doesn't lead to the actual goal of balance and relief and instead increases the pressure.

The new balance: work-life blending 

Work-life blending provides a remedy for the problem described above.
Instead of trying to create a strict balance between work and free time, work-life blending aims to create smooth transitions.
The most common approaches are hybrid or completely remote working models that provide employers with more freedom and more flexible time management.
The aim is to combine work and life in such a way that employees can react more flexibly to private circumstances, work more self-determined, independent of time and place, and thus increase their productivity.

Although work-life blending sounds very tempting at first, there are also difficulties that can arise and need to be identified and considered before the implementation.
If this is not done, the relationship can change and come at the expense of personal time. The consequences for the employee then often include increasing working hours, permanent availability, short break times and increasing health burdens. 

Your next steps 

The desire for a balanced relationship between work and free time certainly has its right to exist.
Nevertheless, a clear separation is not necessary or even possible, since work always also means life and makes an essential contribution to life satisfaction.
Moreover, there is no universal key for the perfect balance, which is why changes should always be oriented towards individual needs. 

A first step towards successful work-life blending is to use desk.ly - the leading app for workplace booking.
Thanks to its intuitive and fast operation, you can plan your working hours flexibly and self-determinedly in the future.  

Interested? Then book a free online demo with one of our experts for hybrid work and desk sharing now.