Its hard to notice oddities in your culture they just feel normal.
But theres nothing universal about what you consider common sense.
Its all shaped by the world you grew up in.
The bookAmerican Waysby Gary Althen taught me this clearly.
The most common topic of small talk is the weather.
Another very common topic is what the speakers do, meaning, normally, what jobs they have.
But pay attention to the second example of small talk: what you do.
This is not universal.
In some cultures, the answer to what do you do?
is to talk about what you do for fun.
But here, in North America, we talk about work.
That means something, especially in our current hustle culture moment.
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Work-life balance is kind of a messed up phrase
Picture, if you will, a scale.
Credit:Unsplash
No, not like that.
Picture an old-timey balancing scale.
Yeah, like that.
Imagine, if you will, putting your work on one side of that scale.
Do you think the scale should be tilted evenly?
Balance is a bias
The phrase work-life balance is, itself, an argument.
And this, mind you, is the phrase used to suggest ahealthier alternative to burnout.
Im not saying we should all stop using the phrase work-life balance.
Its easy for that to develop on a team if leadership isnt intentional about it.
Work and life arent opposites
Our culture glorifies work.
Most of our TV dramas and sitcoms are set in workspaces.
But you dont have to.
you’ve got the option to stay where you are, if your needs are being met.
Theres no rule that says you have to advance, or that your business has to keep growing.
you’re free to get yourself to a reasonable place, and then stop.
Turns out thats perfectly legal.
That isnt to say you cant get satisfaction out of work.
you’re free to.
Every so often, I write things Im proud of.
Sometimes strangers get in touch to tell me it meant a lot of them.
Its a great feeling, and I could imagine spending all of my time chasing it.
This might seem obvious to you.
So Im learning to put work in its place.
Imsetting up guardrailsso that I remember to stop working when its time.
I attempt to automate busywork, then use the time I free up to do something else.
And I try not to use working from home as an excuse to work more often.
Its not about balance its about keeping things in perspective.
Work might be personally meaningful to you, or it might not be.
But its not who you are, or even necessarily the most interesting thing about you.
This article by Justin Pot was originally published on theZapier blogand is republished here with permission.
you’re able to read the original articlehere.
He loves technology, people, and nature, not necessarily in that order.
you could follow Justin:@jhpot.
You don’t have to.
