SEAHO Report - Summer 2019 - 20

SEAHO Feature Articles

Forget Balance and Find Work-Life Harmony
Amy Timmerman, Florida Atlantic University

A colleague of mine recently praised me for having such a good work-life balance and asked my advice on
ways she could improve her own. I found this truly ironic because, up until roughly two months ago, I really
struggled with letting my work-life dominate my personal life.
I was always checking my emails and would get anxious at every text and phone call. Working in Student
Affairs, I am constantly on the clock and felt like I always had to be ready for anything. Most of the
conversations I had with friends and family revolved around work and I could not turn it off. I was almost solely
focused on my job 24 hours a day.
We all make the same excuses for why we let work have so much influence over our lives: It's just a quick
email, It is easier to just do it now than to wait until tomorrow, I have to meet the deadline I was given, I have to
pay my bills. The truth is that we all search for and crave a work-life balance to help us. However, it is just that
thought process that leads us down a path full of late nights and unnecessary stress.
Work-Life balance. Is. A. Myth.
I'll say it again; work-life balance is a myth. Up until two months ago, I thought it was something I just had to
work harder to achieve. I thought that by getting through my inbox I would be able to spend more time focusing
on my relationship over the weekend. But then getting through my inbox meant responding to emails, setting up
meetings, and taking on the emotional toll of my work outside of the office. The more I tried to keep my work
and my life separate the worse the problem became.
The fact-of-the-matter is that the myth of achieving work-life balance actually creates an overwhelming feeling
of failure. This is because balance implies that in order to give more to the one you must take away from the
other. Thus, in order to feel successful at either, you must be unhappy with the other or else you are only putting
50% of your efforts into each. This concept just isn't sustainable. It does not work long term and can create
feelings associated with burnout. The day I stopped trying to achieve work-life balance and I tried to reach
work-life harmony my entire outlook began to change.
The difference between balance and harmony is that harmony does not demand that we separate work and life,
but instead acknowledge their points of intersection. Once I stopped trying to create a "Work-Self" persona and
a "Real-Self" persona and I just focused on my growth and development, I became infinitely happier. Our work
is a part of our lives. Our days outside of our jobs do not wait until we return. That is time that we never get
back and once we realize and acknowledge that we can start improving our situations.
Here are just a few tips I utilized in order to find harmony within my work and my personal life:
1. Make a list of core values
The main purpose of this list is to identify your non-negotiable values. After creating a comprehensive list of
core values, make the commitment to yourself not to compromise on them. For example, if one of your top
values is family, make sure you are not too busy with work that you miss out on holidays with your loved
ones.
2. Incorporating self-care into a daily routine
Too often employees are encouraged to practice self-care but are expected to maintain a full work schedule

SEAHO Report Summer 2019

SEAHO Report - Summer 2019

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