Finding Balance: Managing work and life means examining values and priorities

When talking about work-life balance, the first step is to flip the script, so to speak.

Instead of work-life balance, we should be discussing life-work balance, according to Katie Sandler, a personal development and career coach.

“Maybe life can be the priority and we can find a way to fit work in,” says Sandler, who explains that this simple switch in semantics can lead to serious reflection. “If I put life first and then fit work into life, what does that look like?”

That shift in purpose and intention requires thought and planning, she explains.

“I think there’s work that goes on behind that,” she says, noting steps might include scheduling “me” time into a work calendar.

Sandler says “huge” levels of burnout existed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. And that type of strain can certainly have physical effects, including fatigue, increased inflammation and a weakened immune system.

But the pandemic, she says, led a lot of people to re-examine their relationship with work. Remote work caused many working individuals to recognize their life apart from work, but to also see how they could blend the two when working remotely from home. This might mean, for example, the ability to get some household chores done while still keeping up with work assignments and duties.

“People are experiencing time differently,” says Sandler.

That experience is leading employees to examine their priorities and values. Work, says Sandler, can be a distraction that keeps individuals from asking themselves tough questions.

“Work actually becomes a really good coping mechanism,” she says, adding that many people are raised to view their value as being dependent, in part, on their jobs and careers.

“Now I think we’re in an era of people realizing that doesn’t work,” she says.

Asking ourselves who we are apart from our jobs, as well as how we want to look back on our lives in later years are among the tough questions that can help to determine our values and priorities, says Sandler.

Answers to those questions may lead to looking for more flexibility in the workplace. While there may be some resistance at first, Sandler says most organizations are understanding the benefit of focusing on more balance. More satisfaction in life overall among employees can positively impact work output.

“There’s usually a little pushback, but others start to follow suit,” she says. “Organizations are only as good as the sum of their parts.”