Balance in life
I read the first part of this article about work-life balance. And it got me thinking.
The analogy is truth-y.
It doesn't matter how you divide your life up. Your view of what is important in life may consist of any number of "burners". But, as long as your view of life contains more than 1 burner, you're spending energy elsewhere and thus, theoretically not achieving your full potential in any scenario.
But, the analogy may miss some points.
I think the 4 burners are chosen because they are big components that most people accept and readily understand. But, I can invest more time I spend on the family I live with, and still compromise relationships with my siblings, parents and extended family. Am I still excelling at the family burner?
No matter how you choose to look at it though. This analogy makes one fundamental mistake. It emphasizes the notion that maximizing the output from one or a few burners is more valuable than overall productivity. And generally, it emphasizes the value of the "Work" burner and equates that with success.
In that view, achieving true success would require you to view the world with just 2 burners. One burner on low to deal with miscellaneous, non-work related things that are required for you to live and be able to work. And the work burner chewing up everything else. For some people, that is where the value in life is. And, if there are two people in otherwise identical situations and one views there life this way and the other another way, then work focused one is likely to find more success in work.
My take on it is different though.
Success is something you need to define for yourself. And for some, a healthy/balanced work-life balance is that definition.
This also challenges the notion that all decisions have trade-offs. Sure, many situations will require decisions with trade-offs. But, if a certain balance is how you describe that success, then you may be able to shift energy on the burners without feeling that you are losing something.
For instance, if you have no need for more money, you feel you're spending too much effort/time on work and you want to spend more time with family. Then scaling back the work burner to feed the family burner isn't a trade-off.
Yes, you might make more money or go further at work if you keep on full steam. But, if those things don't add any value to your life, then you're not losing anything to scale back that part of your life.
This actually comes back to something I read a while back; that compensation is about more than just money. It can be benefits, stock options, perks, job freedom, the type of work you get to do, the people you get to work with, how long the commute is and so on.
Many of those factors are beyond our control. And many people may find what they truly want under what others consider the worst conditions. Are they unsuccessful, simply because they aren't wealthy? Or their position isn't enviable?
The problem with the four burners analogy is that it is vaporware. If we take the analogy further; Presumably those burners are being used to produce something. Likely food.
Then, I might be interested to try a restaurant that produced the best steak in the world and nothing else. No sides, no drinks, no hospitality. Just honestly, the worlds best steak.
And there are people out there who want to be that person. And there are people out there who would want to eat that steak.
I wouldn't. Either be that chef, or the person eating there. There is nothing wrong with people who view the world differently from me. But, for me, I'd rather eat at a restaurant that did a whole meal OK, than one that focused on one element to the exclusion of all others.
And, I'm the same way with my life. The work burner exists so I can afford to keep the other burners lit. If I had to extinguish or lessen the other burners solely for the purpose of having the work burner burning brighter, I wouldn't see that as enriching my life.
But then, if you're reading articles like that, I imagine most people doing so are interested in finding out how to maximize the output of that work burner, so I may be preaching to the void. Ultimately though... find out what you value and adjust your balance to those ends.
The analogy is truth-y.
It doesn't matter how you divide your life up. Your view of what is important in life may consist of any number of "burners". But, as long as your view of life contains more than 1 burner, you're spending energy elsewhere and thus, theoretically not achieving your full potential in any scenario.
But, the analogy may miss some points.
I think the 4 burners are chosen because they are big components that most people accept and readily understand. But, I can invest more time I spend on the family I live with, and still compromise relationships with my siblings, parents and extended family. Am I still excelling at the family burner?
No matter how you choose to look at it though. This analogy makes one fundamental mistake. It emphasizes the notion that maximizing the output from one or a few burners is more valuable than overall productivity. And generally, it emphasizes the value of the "Work" burner and equates that with success.
In that view, achieving true success would require you to view the world with just 2 burners. One burner on low to deal with miscellaneous, non-work related things that are required for you to live and be able to work. And the work burner chewing up everything else. For some people, that is where the value in life is. And, if there are two people in otherwise identical situations and one views there life this way and the other another way, then work focused one is likely to find more success in work.
My take on it is different though.
Success is something you need to define for yourself. And for some, a healthy/balanced work-life balance is that definition.
This also challenges the notion that all decisions have trade-offs. Sure, many situations will require decisions with trade-offs. But, if a certain balance is how you describe that success, then you may be able to shift energy on the burners without feeling that you are losing something.
For instance, if you have no need for more money, you feel you're spending too much effort/time on work and you want to spend more time with family. Then scaling back the work burner to feed the family burner isn't a trade-off.
Yes, you might make more money or go further at work if you keep on full steam. But, if those things don't add any value to your life, then you're not losing anything to scale back that part of your life.
This actually comes back to something I read a while back; that compensation is about more than just money. It can be benefits, stock options, perks, job freedom, the type of work you get to do, the people you get to work with, how long the commute is and so on.
Many of those factors are beyond our control. And many people may find what they truly want under what others consider the worst conditions. Are they unsuccessful, simply because they aren't wealthy? Or their position isn't enviable?
The problem with the four burners analogy is that it is vaporware. If we take the analogy further; Presumably those burners are being used to produce something. Likely food.
Then, I might be interested to try a restaurant that produced the best steak in the world and nothing else. No sides, no drinks, no hospitality. Just honestly, the worlds best steak.
And there are people out there who want to be that person. And there are people out there who would want to eat that steak.
I wouldn't. Either be that chef, or the person eating there. There is nothing wrong with people who view the world differently from me. But, for me, I'd rather eat at a restaurant that did a whole meal OK, than one that focused on one element to the exclusion of all others.
And, I'm the same way with my life. The work burner exists so I can afford to keep the other burners lit. If I had to extinguish or lessen the other burners solely for the purpose of having the work burner burning brighter, I wouldn't see that as enriching my life.
But then, if you're reading articles like that, I imagine most people doing so are interested in finding out how to maximize the output of that work burner, so I may be preaching to the void. Ultimately though... find out what you value and adjust your balance to those ends.
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