Work Life Balance

”Can I call you back?” ”I am in a meeting.” ”I am busy.” These are words used on a daily basis by business people and every business leader can relate with this since we have just 24 hours in a day. Many juggle work and other parts of life. In this present generation, that has technology at the tip of their fingers such as desktops, mobile phones, palm tops and other digital devices used to ensure communication is swift and easier than ever before can be leave us feeling exhausted and spent.

Often times, the quest for success in our profession drives us to the point that every other thing seems to be relegated to the background. Our desire for success usually leaves us engrossed with much work so that our well-being is most times grossly disregarded. Creating a healthy work-life balance is crucial not just for our mental, psychological and physical well-being, but also important for our career.

Work-life balance is a state of equal value for time and resources towards the demands of our personal and career life. Poor work-life balance can be attributed to the following:

• over worked hours
• increased demands at work places
• increased demands at home
• family, religion and social obligations

A good work-life balance has open-ended positive effects ranging from reduced stress, a lower risk of burnout and a healthier sense of well-being which is beneficial to both the employers and the employees. When an employer creates an enabling environment that supports and promotes work-life balance for her employees, then he is sure to save costs and improve loyalty and productivity of workforce.

It is very much important to think ways of work-life balance when creating schedules for personal and professional life. Work-life balance is not just about evenly dividing the hours in your day between personal life and work life; it is more about having the flexibility to get things done in your professional life while still having time and energy to enjoy your personal life.   

Having a work-life balance entails understanding how different areas of our life takes our time. “The Five Hats” is a philosophy coined by Lisa Caprelli (2021) after years of observing what exactly makes great leaders happy and fulfilled.

The Five Hats Juggled by Business Leaders:

Hat 1: Quality family time

Hat 2: Have meaningful/healthy friendships

Hat 3: Establish a fulfilling business path

Hat 4: Build connections

Hat 5: Have interests, hobbies and adventures

Lisa Caprelli (2021) stated that, she had interviewed over 150 CEOs regarding what makes them happy and gives them meaning combined with their business life, she was shocked by their truth and reality. She realized that, many CEOs who were “not happy” and spent their time in a one hat or are probably not aware of the relationship to time and what balance means in different areas of their lives. Aside the business hat, it is essential to create time for other important areas of one’s life such as: friends, family, connections, interests and developing your own hobbies.