Sounds a good idea doesn’t it? The cliché of having, and maintaining ‘a good work / life balance’.
Staying reasonably centred most of the time.
And if you value this, you’re probably really noticing it right now when it feels out of balance.
It can seem sometimes I’m spending too much time, money or energy on work, fads, or forcing an outcome with something or someone.
Or neglecting something I should be prioritising more. A job, the family, or the finances.
Here’s a different perspective worth considering from a great book by Gary Keller, ‘The One Thing’.
Your best results come from when you are ‘out of balance’.
Focusing longer, or more, on work or other aspects of life, as opposed to maintaining a balanced narrow constraint.
Ordinary results > Potentially increased results > Potentially extraordinary results
To achieve more extraordinary results may require you to get extremely out of balance. With only infrequent counter balancing, so you don’t come back to nothing – what you have neglected. There’s no family or job anymore because it was left too far behind.
I like the analogy of juggling balls; work, family, health, friends, or any other integrity.
If you drop one or two they are rubber and bounce. But another may be irrevocably damaged.
Instead of expending lots of energy on maintaining work / life balance with limited results, consider choosing work life priorities.
When you choose a priority you automatically go out of balance.
There will be 1, what matters most, and 2, everything else.
When you’re supposed to be working, work.
When playing, play.
And if you spend a disproportionate amount of time on something, the one thing, this will intentionally, or unintentionally throw the rest of your day, week, month or year out of balance.
Be okay with being out of balance at the moment, knowing we can go back to the rest.
And acknowledge any extraordinary results you’re producing in this extraordinary period.
