When advanced computers began to appear in the 1980s, and the prospect of the development of the Internet echoed in the air, many thought that digital technologies would make work easier, leaving more time for personal life.
After 20 years, not a single office could do without computers.
The digital technology revolution has not just happened but triumphantly marched around the world, covering all areas of activity. But the next massive leap in computer technology was yet to come. Today, a person’s life in a developed society is unthinkable without a smartphone or other portable device that provides Internet access everywhere. And this means that your work accompanies you around at any time of the day, not just in the office for 8 hours a day. As a result, technology did not make life easier but only increased work productivity, distributing it in a thin layer over a sin. Home dinner must be combined with business correspondence with the chef and walking with a girl; you suddenly remember that you must check your e-mail urgently. And so, it becomes increasingly often until your life turns into routine maintenance of your career. Subsequently, this can lead to burnout and stress. You can avoid this if you find the right balance between work and personal life.
What does work-life balance mean?
The modern rhythm of life of many people looks like some interests are superimposed on the framework of other goods. You will not surprise anyone with the phrase “I’ll be late at work,” “let us meet next weekend. Otherwise, I am working this”, etc. There can be several explanations why a person imperceptibly refuses his personal life. Lack of money and career ambitions are one side of the matter, material and therefore more meaningful. But there is another – psychological. A forced workaholic can cause dissatisfaction with personal life. The cause and effect are flipped, but the negative impact on the person remains the same. Balance allows you to equally appreciate both components of life – work and pleasure, which not only do not mutually ban each other but bring additional meaning.
How important is the balance?
The fact is that high professional employment in our time is no longer perceived as a forced sacrifice. Violation of the balance between work and life in favor of the first is becoming increasingly popular, turning into a fashion trend that indicates the demand or success of a person. It has gotten to the fact that many perceive the intervention of work in personal life as the only way to secure a high working status and remain competitive in the eyes of the head. This opinion is erroneous and resembles an attempt to justify the inept distribution of working time or unwillingness to do something else. We do not intend to discredit overtime work as such. You are working above the norm. For example, at the rudimentary stage of a career, the initial stage of a business, or when managing a complex project. But when it becomes an endless series of filling in the gaps, we are talking more about the wrong approach. Your productivity in the workplace is unlikely to improve if you give yourself carte blanche to fix things at home. In addition, by reducing attention to other aspects of life, at some point, you may believe in their lesser significance.
If you push into the background, say, the relationship with your girlfriend, then in return, you will receive a corresponding negative response. And this will be another erroneous argument for the importance of work over personal life.
Instead of personal life, we choose work. The catchphrase often justifies excessive devotion to one’s profession: “Choose a job you love, and you won’t have to work a day in your life.” This statement can be accepted as accurate, with the only amendment that the love of one’s work does not exclude the significance of everything else. If your favorite dish is fried chicken, then this does not mean that you should exclude all other foods from the diet.
Other parts of your life require just as much attention. It is great luck to find your favorite thing, for which, moreover, you can get good money. But think about whether you would agree to this if it deprived you of the other pleasures of life.
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