Once you’ve increased your awareness of your current situation, examine how that situation makes you feel. And although some professionals may be fine with long work hours, taking the time to think through these questions and acknowledge the tradeoffs you’ve made (whether intentional or not) is helpful for anyone looking to discover alternative ways of working and living. But while it’s often a major life event - such as the birth of a child, or the death of a loved one - that catalyzes these realizations, it’s possible to take a pause and start rethinking your priorities at any time. Many of them explained that they didn’t normally have the time or the energy to stop and reflect, and even expressed gratitude for the reflection space that the interview process itself allowed them. Of course, the professionals we talked to all led very busy lives. This life-changing event was the impetus she needed to take a step back, become aware of the mismatch between her current situation and her personal priorities, and begin to denormalize her habit of working long hours. She recognized that while the idea of “ must work, must work, must work” had been “indoctrinated into ,” she was now aware of the “clash” between this idea and “where was now” as a mother. Similarly, legal partner Kate told us that following the birth of her son, she experienced a major mental shift. So, I think from then on, I have taken a real step back. I thought, I am not doing this anymore, this is ridiculous. “ I was working quite long hours … it was a horrible sort of period … And I think for me, that was the key point. It was only at this point that she was able to recognize the toll her overwork had been taking on her family - and on her own mental and physical health: Take a step back and ask yourself: What is currently causing me stress, unbalance, or dissatisfaction? How are these circumstances affecting how I perform and engage with my job? How are they impacting my personal life? What am I prioritizing? What am I sacrificing? What is getting lost? Only after you take a mental pause and acknowledge these factors can you begin to tackle them.įor instance, after several years of intense focus on her career, Maya*, a senior associate at a law firm, described feeling like she’d hit rock bottom.
This cycle is made up of five distinct steps: 1.
Importantly, our research suggests that this is not a one-time fix, but rather, a cycle that we must engage in continuously as our circumstances and priorities evolve.
#Work life balance definitions professional#
While the details of every individual case differed, our study suggested a common mental process that consistently helped this group of professionals to change the way they worked - and lived - for the better.Īt a high level, our research showed that achieving better balance between professional and personal priorities boils down to a combination of reflexivity - or questioning assumptions to increase self-awareness - and intentional role redefinition. However, about 30% of the men and 50% of women in our sample appeared to consciously resist working long hours, describing a variety of strategies they developed for maintaining a healthier work-life balance. The majority of the interviewees described their jobs as highly demanding, exhausting, and chaotic, and they seemed to take for granted that working long hours was necessary for their professional success. We spoke with an equal number of men and women, and most of the interviewees were between 30 and 50 years old, with at least one dependent child, and in either middle or senior management roles. To explore this question, we conducted almost 200 in-depth interviews with 78 professionals from the London offices of a global law firm and an accounting firm.
#Work life balance definitions free#
What does it take to free yourself from these unhealthy patterns and reach a more sustainable, rewarding work-life balance? Despite the resounding evidence that working long hours can be harmful to both employees and employers, many professionals still struggle to overcome their assumptions - and their deeply-ingrained habits - around work hours.
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