Hey Guys!  Work-Life Integration Is Better Than Work-Life Balance

Have you ever been able to achieve work-life balance?  Our work responsibilities tend to feel more crucial than the everyday needs of ourselves and people we care about.  Like many of you, all my adult life I’ve been struggling to find that ‘perfect’ work-life balance.  With marriage, kids, life, and career progression that balance seems like an endless campaign.  Flexible work schedules like remote working some days, going into the office the other days has tipped work-life balance scale.

The work-life balance theory is forty-year belief about keeping your work life and your personal life separate but equal with hard boundaries.  Balance concentrates on where you are during working hours.  This was much easier prior to the pandemic when there was a structured work schedule with clear boundaries.  I never could achieve a perfect balance, instead I always tried for what is reasonable to my lifestyle.

The work-life integration concept is centered on the belief that there is no division between the two and that both coexist.  Integration concentrates on results.  During the pandemic and now, like many of you, I work a flexible work schedule.  I remote work and go to the office.  The work-life balance boundaries have become very blurred.  Now I’m answering texts, calls, and e-mails after I’ve ‘logged-out’ mostly because I work with colleagues in three different time zones.

Both work-life balance and work-life integration are great framework concepts to meet both your personal and professional obligations.  Both concepts require you to constantly analyze and prioritize your to to-do list.  For example, one advantage with work-life balance you can have the ability to create and prioritize two separate to-do lists, one for work and the other for personal.  While work-life integration requires merging both work and personal to-do lists along with a bunch of communication with significant other.

So, is work-life integration for you?  Here are some simple tips to help.

Create a schedule.  When creating your schedule make sure you are focused on work and personal life priorities.  Identify your productive work hours, some it may be early morning, for it might be late evening.  Find an App that you and significant other can share.  Don’t forget to add things like meetings, picking up kids, appointments, kids practices and games, gym time, and deadlines.  The goal is to make life easier and smoother while remaining flexible.  This takes a commitment by you to communicate and share your schedule.

Keep boundaries.  You must have, ‘You’ time.  As you know, working from home often leads to less boundaries because your peer can reach you at any time.  This can lead to working more or interrupting personal time.  Learn to unplug from your job by taking short breaks and go for a walk, plan meals, or fix something around the house.  Taking breaks are essential for your well-being, it lets your body and mind relax.  Set aside time each day to focus on personal activities and people that matter the most to you.  Take a vacation to avoid burnout, you deserve it.

Workspace.  Have a dedicated workspace away from your main living area.  Set it up similar to your desk at work.  Stop working off the card table and folding chair.  Invest in a good ergonomic chair, desk, phone, lighting and laptop.  I have found that multiple monitors wireless keyboard, mouse, and headphones are a must.  Anything wireless is a plus.  It makes your workspace appear less cluttered.  There are great websites and YouTube videos on the internet for affordable home workspace desk essentials.  Also, keep all work electronics in the dedicated workspace.  By the way, don’t forget about a good coffee maker.

The right tools.  Like your father use to say, ‘Work smarter, not harder,’ but now you need to work more efficiently, not harder.  Technology has given us the ability to work from almost anywhere and stay connected.  Most jobs offer the right tools to get the job done while at home.  Use your platforms to stay connected and collaborate with your peers on those projects.  Most platforms offer all the essential tools like video, performance dashboards, direct messaging, file sharing and so on.

Try changing your mindset from work-life balance to work-life integration.  It gives you the flexibility to gain synergies across all aspects of your life.  Life happens, not all facets of your life can be perfectly planed however, the flexibility to choose your priorities can reduce the stress of fitting everything into one day.  Technology advancements have given us men endless opportunities to collaborate and work digitally while remaining flexible to meet our personal obligations.