I haven’t written much about work/life balance lately. I certainly still feel that my life is balanced (for the most part). I still feel there is such a thing as “balance” and I see it’s still a topic of discussion in my daily Google Alerts.
But, something has changed for me. I see it much differently now than I did when I was giving presentations on work/life balance. Technology has become so much more prevalent in our daily lives. Escaping from the office, even when outside the office, isn’t as easy as it once seemed to be. Yet, at the same time, I feel my work and my personal life are blending and not in a bad way.
Yes, I believe some of that is my not-so-new role at work - I spend a good amount of time on social media and training others to use social media for the purposes of being employee advocates and social sellers. I print out information on social selling and make it my bedtime reading (that actually sounds sad...I read actual books, too. Currently, I’m engrossed in Natchez Burning by Greg Iles, which is a great read!) I’ve spent a lot of time relearning HTML and now I have a few other skills I’m attempting to develop that will help my work, but sometimes have to be done at home.
I’ve become the master of using the time between drop-off and pick-up to take care of everyday tasks like grocery shopping, catching up with family and friends, or reading non-work-related books. Workouts are scheduled around the children’s schedules and my husband and I play this game of who can manage the chaos better (me...I manage better...just sayin’).
So, the boundaries I have around work and personal life are different. But I’m still balanced (i.e. centered) and while my schedule is chaotic...I know my non-negotiables, my priorities, and that keeps me from becoming a complete stress-case.
How has your balance been lately? Are you blending technology into your life or are you still separately work and home life. I don’t believe there is one right way to be balanced. I still believe it’s all about what makes you feel centered in your world.