05 Jul Is Work-Life Balance a Myth?
As another year rolls into place for the legal profession in New Zealand I was going to put together a few words about achieving a better work-life balance in 2023. But, the more I thought about this phrase (which I have been guilty of using myself at times) the less it made sense. The pandemic seemed to render work–life balance a laughable concept, as we set up computers at home there was no longer a separation of job and personal time or space. The more we talked about work-life balance the harder and the longer we worked.
It wasn’t too long until “work-life balance” was more frequently “sold” to prospective new employees – in an attempt (consciously or unconsciously) to gain a competitive advantage in hiring. In some instances, the newly appointed staff member quickly discovered that this false expectation also came with a companion, disappointment.
In recent news Mark Zuckerberg (of Facebook fame) told employees that low performers were not going to be tolerated – “Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here.” [Nice.] The not-so-hidden message here was that you should do what you need to do – the boss is back in charge, and is less interested in what you want to do, or whether you are feeling any sense of purpose in the work the organisation is financially compensating you to do. The incentives here were pretty clear. The word “compensation” implied that the worker was giving something up (free time) for a reward (pay).
No wonder some people dread Mondays and trudge through the weekdays with their sights set on the weekend. However, the fact is, work is very much a part of life and is meant to make our lives more meaningful, fulfilling and challenging in all the best ways. The problem is that we often tell ourselves: “’I’m going to put in eight hours’ worth of work, and then I’m going to put in eight hours’ worth of me time, which will include family, hobbies, friends – everything else.” But, this work-life balance idea turns out to be one that points us in the wrong direction, pitting work against life. The phrase suggests that work is not part of life but something you struggle through so you can get to live your life. Even a more rounded definition of work-life balance, one that acknowledges its good intentions, still leaves us with a flawed idea.
We are focusing on the wrong words. The conventional way of thinking about work-life balance in on or off terms presents a zero-sum game. Increasing time to spend with family means less time for managing one’s career. But if you don’t take care of your career, you will not be able to provide for your family. It is a circular way of framing things. We all need to choose a personal and professional journey based on our core values. We should be making choices that support moving in the direction that we want to go. It may even turn out to be a choice that has us going in the opposite direction, in order to support something that is important.
Instead of worrying about our favourite work-plus-life-plus-noun phrase we need to think about values and choices. Our values are our core beliefs – principles that we uphold in how we choose to live our life. When our actions reflect our values, we feel good about what we are doing. When our actions are in opposition to our values, we feel frustrated, annoyed and angry. Believing you have little or no choice in the direction of your legal career often leads to little or no satisfaction. You are on a hamster-wheel that leaves little choice but to do the same thing, or jump off and pursue a career outside of law.
What is critical is to make a choice with a clear understanding of its impact – on you and on those who are important to you. It’s okay to choose the professional fast-track that keeps us away from our family more than we’d prefer, or to slow down or jump off – even while others may be telling us to lean in. What is important is that at each stage of your legal career your values align with your current position.
Early on in your career, before family life takes over, you can lean into your job and give it the majority of your time – attending professional training and putting your hand up for special assignments. Mid-career, with the assistance of your employer, you may value and need more flexibility – to be able to rearrange your work schedule around important family events. Later still, you may set your sights on senior roles and even partnership – a time to lean in to work again.
On the employer side, it helps to recognise that an employee’s career will have different seasons. By aligning roles to those seasons both the firm, and its clients, will gain maximum satisfaction from, and performance by, each employee.