If you’ve ever been to a professional conference, business meeting or industry lunch, I guarantee that one topic came up; work-life balance. The extreme demands of today’s workplace means that you can put corporate wellness before family wellness or your own wellbeing, and miss out on time for family, friends, hobbies, etc. but is there room for a 50/50 split between work and home life?
Keith Wyche, President of CUB Foods, comments ‘Having been a corporate athlete for more than 30 years, I can testify that today’s workplace is much more demanding than ever before. Not only are we being asked to work longer hours, technology has almost “handcuffed” us to the job 24/7. Think about it. Emails are non-stop. Voicemails can arrive at any hour. Smartphones function as “life support” devices that sit on our nightstand, vibrating at all hours of the night.’
According to Wyche, ‘In such a competitive workplace, the difference between a promotion and a pink slip can be the perception of who is more “dedicated” to the company. Who is willing to work late? Who will spend their weekends in the office to finish the project? If you don’t do it, someone else will and gets the upper hand. Worse yet, your personal brand may take a hit. The reality is, there really is no such thing as work-life balance if you expect it to always be a 50/50 split. Rather, I believe that what is more manageable is what I call “managed imbalance”.’
By managed imbalance, Wyche means that you have to acknowledge and accept that fact that sometimes, the demands of your job will be your priority, while the needs of your personal life will take precedence at others. If your health is a concern, you simply have to make time to eat a proper lunch, rather than wolfing down fast food at your desk. If you have a big project deadline or presentation, you just have to put that first. ‘The skill comes in knowing when and how to manage the imbalance,’ Wyche notes. ‘I am convinced that all work and no play is a recipe for unhappiness.’
