Work life balance used to be a lot easier to accomplish than it is today. Back before cell phones, people had to either be at work or home to be contacted. Since they could not be contacted at all times of day, they were able to disconnect from work and have more work life balance. Today, we are able to be contacted 24/7, no matter where we are. We can call, text, snapchat, use social media posts, slack, etc. to contact people. Our ability to disconnect is almost impossible in this day and age.
A lot of people like to think, becoming an entrepreneur and owning your own business allows more freedom in your life. It is quite the opposite! If you work for a company and you work an 8-10 hour shift, most companies, you can go home and not worry about being contacted when its not your shift. There are on-call situations where this is not true but those existed before cell phones too. For example, the company Sam works for, she works 7-4 Monday through Friday and does not get bothered by work stuff outside of that time. I own a company and I take calls, texts, and work 7 days a week from 6am-9pm and sometimes at night if its an emergency. The only free time I get is when I am sleeping or do not have my phone on me.
So, my work life balance is miniscule compared to Sam. However, I talk to her about business all the time, so she doesn’t get much of a break herself :). I have been doing this for 6 years now, what I have realized is people who become entrepreneurs to get time freedom is not reality. Most people who own a business or are self-employed, end up working a lot more than they would if they had a 40 an hour job.
I am not trying to talk you out of starting a business, I want to be realistic with people who are looking for the, so called “work life balance”. I also do not succumb to the normal work life balance. One of my hobbies and it has been for as long as I can remember is working. So, my work life balance is a lot different than most peoples. Some weeks I am doing some kind of work for 14 hours a day, pretty much every day. Other weeks, I am done at a normal time and sometimes, I am even done after a few hours of work. It has a lot to do with, when stuff needs to get done, I work, when nothing is pressing, I will back off and not work as much. If we have a vacation or plans, I will work more leading up to it, so I am prepared to take that time off. So, my work life balance is not 40 hours a week, being home by 5pm everyday and having weekends off. Some people that may be their situation but not for me and not for most entrepreneurs.
I do think work life balance is good to have. Some people, especially people with kids, should have more than others. I think its all about seasons in life and what you enjoy doing. If you live to work, you will have different work life balance than someone who works to live. There is nothing wrong with that, it is all based on each individual. What you need to remember is, you are playing your game, you are not playing someone else’s game. So… DO NOT feel bad if you work harder or not as hard as others. Everyone is playing their own game.
So, work life balance is individualized. Depending on your game and your personality, will dictate your work life balance.
Life and work is about the journey, not the destination, so enjoy the process!
Your life Tutor
-Shaun Tutor
Tutors of Life 