Work-Life Balance
Content Courtesy of the Forever Young Podcast with Christiana Egi and Cherrie-Marie Chiu.
Do you think a good work-life balance is necessary for our well-being? Many of us spend most of our time at work, and because of how busy our work life can get, it can be harder to schedule leisure activities or even time for exercise. On our most recent Forever Young podcast episode, we discussed how to have a good work-life balance and what that may mean for different people whether you are a caregiver, a corporate worker, or even an entrepreneur. Listen to the full podcast below:
A typical definition of work-life balance is the amount of time you spend doing your job versus the amount of time you spend with loved ones or pursuing personal interests and hobbies. If you allow the demands of work to get more of your time or attention, you may have less time for family, loved ones, and friends. It may only sometimes be realistic to have a true balance, but it is something we can all strive to maintain.
Everything in our lives is so fast-paced these days and is definitely a very delicate balancing act, which most of us fail at woefully. Especially when both parents work in most households, family dinner tables are not what they used to be. Dinnertime is typically a great time for families to get together to recap the day they had and discuss interesting topics.
Having the goal of eating dinner at the table with family is a simple way of managing a work-life balance. However, this isn't always possible for many families, especially if the parents have conflicting work schedules. If you can't make that a goal, try having breakfast together before you go your separate ways or an evening stroll to walk the food off.
It is important to prioritize your values and identify what truly matters to us outside of work. Then you can create that time not just for your family but also for yourself. It is easy to forget the importance of self-care, and as we always say - you cannot give from an empty cup right?
It is also quite evident that the younger generation of working people prioritizes achieving a work-life balance. This could also come from seeing how the older generations were constantly overworked and ultimately had to sacrifice time for themselves and family. Striving to achieve this type of balance at a young age can help set clear boundaries at work and also give friends and loved ones a sense of security as well.
Some may argue certain jobs allow us to have a better balance over others. An entrepreneur may not always have the luxury of separating work and life, as when you are a business owner you tend to nurture it as if it was your baby. However, as generations change, more people learn to separate work from life in order to enjoy what is most important.
A philosophy professor, who was giving a lecture in front of these kids had a glass jar in front of him, a pile of rocks, a bag of small pebbles, a tub of sand, and a bottle of water. He started out by filling up the chair with the big rocks, and when they reached the rim of the jar, he headed out to the students and asked them if the jar was full. They all agreed, there was no more room to put the rocks in and it was full. Then the professor picked up the pebbles and poured the sand into the cup. Once again, he asked if they thought it was full, they said yes. Finally, he picked up the bottle of water, take the water into the jar, and soaked it with the remaining space. The students laughed.
Then the professor went on to explain to them that the jar of rocks, pebbles, sand, and water represents everything that is in one's life. We need to make room for what's important - we need to take care of the rocks first. These are the things that really matter and are critical to our long-term well-being, like family, your loved ones, and your friends. If you deal with big issues first, by putting the rocks in the jar, the small issues can still fall into place. However, the reverse will be the case. If you were to fill that jar with your job, you won't have time for your family, but if you put your family first, which are the rocks, you will have more space to put into your work, hobbies, and friends. No matter how busy you are, no matter what business you are creating, life does not stand still. If you have young children, they grow up and these are moments you are not going to get back.
What are we doing to balance our work and life? Are we taking in the important things and making them relevant, are we celebrating small wins?
We need to be a little bit more mindful about how much room we're leaving for ourselves and for our family. We tend to overlook the importance of having a work-life balance. We need to learn ways to manage and measure what we are doing, and to schedule things. We hope our readers were reminded to put their rocks in their jar first, prioritize what is important and things will fall into place!
The Forever Young podcast was created and produced by Christiana Egi and Cherrie Marie Chiu. Produced and engineered by Elisse Hill. The podcast represents our opinions and those of our guests. The content should not be taken as medical advice. It is for informational purposes only. Please consult your healthcare professional for any medical questions. If you like our show, please tell your friends and leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts. New episodes are available every other Wednesday. Have questions? Email us at ourforeveryoungpodcast@gmail.com.
