06/20/2024

Balancing the Unbalanceable

The traditional 40-hour work week prevents balance

In a post-COVID-19 pandemic world, much of the conversation among young professionals is about how to find work-life balance. But—hot take incoming—you cannot balance work and life. I know that is a striking sentence to read, and there are probably some negative emotions that come along with it. Hear me out.

There is absolutely a world where people can have an optimal balance between the time and energy they spend at work and in their personal lives. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist within our current reality. The traditional 40-hour work week prevents that. We spend at least eight hours at work—during the prime time for getting things done. We're supposed to spend eight hours sleeping. This leaves just eight hours for us to live our outside-of-work life.

When you break it down like that, it sounds doable, right? However, it isn't just eight hours for work or life. For those who are back in the office fully, or even part time, that does not account for the time needed to commute, get dressed for work or meal prep lunches. And for those who are remote, that doesn't account for the mornings when you log on early or work a little later because you're already home and on a roll. And it definitely does not account for errands, appointments or school conferences that need to happen during work hours. Do you see where I am going with this? There are tons of small things we do each day that are for the purpose of our job and not our personal life that take place during "business hours" and vice versa.

Please select this link to read the complete article from ASAE’s Center for Association Leadership.