"Work-Life Balance" Is A Foolish Term
“It’s clear the problem isn’t work vs. life. Work is just part of a puzzle you’re trying to find the best way to fit together.” - Nat Eliason
✍️ Quote of the Week
“As I came down from the mountain, I recalled how, not many years ago, it was access to information and movement that seemed our greatest luxury; nowadays it’s often freedom from information, the chance to sit still, that feels like the ultimate prize.” — Pico Iyer
📰 An Article I’m Reading (Again)
“The Wild Improbability of This Moment” by Dan Gardner. The odds of Hitler, Stalin, and Mao being born as boys and surviving childhood is likely under 1%. Gardner relates this to humans as a whole, reminding us that similar to the Butterfly Effect, “every single person is capable of making an enormous difference. They may not know when they make a difference. In fact, they almost always will not know they made a difference. But they can and do, simply by living.”
☎️ Cal Newport: Benefits of Not Using Social Media
Work-Life Balance is a Foolish Term
In last week’s newsletter, I discussed why “passion” is a poor metric for measuring future happiness. For our second mental model in approaching careers, we’ll discuss an article written by Nat Eliason that details why the term “work-life balance” is actually ridiculous. Here’s four ideas from his article:
The term work-life balance is absurd because it implies that two things must be at odds with each other, meaning that lowering one side of the scale (work) must raise the other side of the scale (life).
This is wrong though: work is just another part of life. Eliason states that the question shouldn’t be about balancing work and life, but creating a healthy relationship among work and other important areas of your life. He includes this list from Anthony Gustin about these other vital aspects of life:
Physical Health
Spirituality
Travel
Fun
Finances
Creativity
Mental Health
Family
Relationships
Work
“It’s clear the problem isn’t work vs. life. Work is just part of a puzzle you’re trying to find the best way to fit together.”
Instead of thinking about balance, we should rather see that each part of our life—what Eliason calls “life buckets”—should support each other as much as possible.
For example, many people see exercising as subtracting fun and time from life, so how can you improve your physical health in a way that better supports the rest of your life? Go to fitness classes or take up team sports to “integrate more fun, relationships, and family than you get from solo exercise.”
The more you can integrate these areas of your life in a healthy, supportive way, the more you can find long-term enjoyment and fulfillment.
“Fun activities that support your physical and mental health, creativity, and relationships, tend to be more enjoyable over long periods than fun activities that cost you physical and mental health.”
My Thoughts
This is a great sequel to what I discussed last week about not following your “passion” but choosing a career based on the life you want to live. Adding to this framework of “lifestyle-centric planning,” Eliason clarifies that what a great lifestyle involves is the integration of work with the other “buckets” of your life.
As I apply this to my doubts about becoming a doctor, this is another reason why night-shifts, 80-hour residency weeks, and being on call are not appealing to me. It’s less unified.
Instead of working at night, I’d be spending that time with family or friends and sleeping. This would allow me to take care of my work, family, and my physical and mental health all in the same day.1
I’ve been very fortunate to have spent lots of time with my parents growing up, and I’d like to be able to return this gift to my own family someday.
As I ponder these ideas more, I realize that these are great frameworks largely to filter out potential careers by selecting desired lifestyles. It’s almost like we’ve been playing duck-duck-goose with careers at this point.
While the process of elimination is a great tool, the question now becomes, how do I find a job that accommodates my desired lifestyle?
There is still the component of actively exploring potential careers. I have a deep interest in science and my degree program best aligns with that, so where do I go from there?
Stay tuned, as I’ll be exploring this in the future so that I might be able to find a goose.
If you like this article, you should check out this one, where I discuss why passion could be a bad metric for future happiness.
Acknowledgements
Thank you Nat Eliason for a great piece.
You can read the full article here: Work Life Balance is Impossible
Cover Photo by Patrick Fore on Unsplash