Do you believe in work-life balance?
Somnath Sandeep
8 replies
If so, why, and how do you maintain a balance?
If not, why do you think so?
Replies
Raghav Goyal@rg97
Depends on how you define 'work'. It's a thin line for some, between work and life, for some it's a clear line. While working towards a vision I had no clear interest for, I labelled work as 'boring' and just for the financial gain, etc. At that time, it was a clear line between work and play ('so called life'). But at the current stage when I'm part of building a vision that I resonate with, and in the manner I enjoy, the distinction is very thin. According to me, Life = Work + Play, so the question people should really be asking is work-play balance. Life is the larger set.
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@rg97 I agree. I don't quite know what the balance is that I want and how I would maintain it. Especially because as a writer you have spurts of inspiration where you could be writing for days and other times when you've dragged the deadline hoping for inspiration for so long that you have to sit for days. I think what I do identify with balance is the understanding that time does not equal output and effort and having the reasonable choice to pull back when you want to.
@stuti yes, it's very subjective. Personally, I seek different things from different aspects of my life.
I seek purpose from what I work on - vision, I seek passion from expressing myself creatively, and I seek love from spending time with my friends.
Like you said, the fact that I'm working on something which is my vision, and love spending time on it doesn't necessarily mean I'll have to do it all the time. I believe too much of anything is good for nothing, and it's always good to have your identity based on multiple things. This way you don't get too attached to one single aspect. Time, and again, we do know that too much attachment has more cons than pros.
We need a multiplicity in identities, and in fact, "Work-life"/"Work-play" makes it seems like life is dual in nature (that they are on the same scale at opposite ends of the spectrum), though personally I feel it's more non-dual, and that there are multiple aspects/facets of life, which are completely different from each other.
For me, work is play. I love the work I'm currently doing, that's play for me. Work is actually learning new things as I am working and also implementing those things. Work-life balance is important because, we need to remember what we are as a human being. So staying away from work and talking to your family and friends is what basically life is.
@mayank_gupta11 hahah that's so true. Fundamentally, we are social beings, and there's just ecstatic joy in just forming meaningful relationships, and even in just discovering, and meeting new souls.
You have got a life and to sustain that you work. Mostly people work to get money to afford their basic necessities and provide the necessities to their family. So there is a life and to maintain it you work, if you understand this clearly you automatically will maintain a work life balance. Also work is a part of life and not life itself. Whatever you are working for, it could be about saving many peoples life too. But then taking out time to recollect yourself and giving time to your family is one of the most important things.