Work-Life Balance

What is work-life balance and why do we talk about it so much? Work is part of our life, in fact we see our workmates more than our family. So wouldn't it be work-family balance or job-personal balance?

Plus, the one thing I don't understand is the thought that an intelligent company would actually want to overwork its employees. I run a focused, intense company of great, dedicated people, but never have we discussed the idea of overworking a person. A burned-out person is no good for anyone--themselves, their family, their company or their clients. It simply doesn't work. There are plenty of studies that show a person working 60 hours a week will get less done than one working 40 hours a week.

So does that mean we should never work one second longer than our minimum? 

No. There are times when we need to pitch in and help the client, save a situation or lend a hand to a struggling team member.

But what this does mean is that each of us has to do our best to make sure we are fresh, positive and valuable. If we're burned-out we are none of those things. 

If our focus was on how to communicate and how to remove obstacles in our path that stop us from being at our best, wouldn't we all be better off?

Barry LaBov

LaBov & Beyond

www.labov.com