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So, what is an ideal work life balance?

Come on now, take a piece of paper and a pen and actually write down the answer to this question. Do you have a very clear picture of what it would be like to have an excellent work life balance?

Did this one question make you think? Probably it made you wonder, and even left you lost in your thoughts, trying to figure out what an idealistic work life balance really is? Could you actually write down an answer that sounded satisfactory to you? Did it give you a clear image of what work life balance means?

There is no one answer to the question of what an ideal work life balance is. That’s because work life balance means different things to different people. For some, it would be as simple as being able to leave on time from office and then spend the rest of the day with family and friends. For some others it may mean not having to work at all for someone else, and further, just having to spend only a few hours a week to keep a check on things to ensure that all the passive and recurring income that is flowing in continues and grows even beyond.

More often than not, people say they are not happy with their work life balance. And yet, at the same time, if you ask them how they would like that balance to be, they do not have a clear and complete answer.

Knowing how exactly you want your work life balance to be is like having won half the battle.

Can you visualize clearly what you would like your work life balance to be? If you cannot, then you do not have a good handle on what you really want. In this case, you must put it on your priority list to decide and be clear on what/how it is that you want your ideal work life balance to be.

I would like to advocate that everyone should envision three levels of work life balance for themselves.

1) The desirable balance in the current situation
2) The short-term future vision
3) The ideal and long-term future vision

The first one is about the present. For the situation that you are in as of today, outline what you think your desirable work life balance is. Then, see what actions you will have to take to move towards this desirable state. When doing this, do not try to improve the situation itself; just define what actions you will take (in the same current situation). For example, make a firm decision to reduce the amount of overtime by 5 hours a week, by working for a maximum of 10 hours per day instead of the current 11 hours. Better still, enforce the “8 hours of work” policy.

Most of us caught up in the rat race are so busy and involved in the race that we do not make time to think whether the situation that we are in today is what we would actually like to continue going forward for the rest of our lives/careers as well. That’s not in the sense of getting promoted and stuff, but rather in the sense of being in a different situation in life itself, like, for example, not having to work as much and yet get more benefits than the present. This brings us to the short-term- and long-term- future visions.

The short-term vision is about making small changes to your current situation itself. For example, negotiating with your boss to allow you to work from home for one day per week, which would save you two hours of commutation to and fro, one hour of which you would dedicate to work related to the job itself (A win-win for both you and your boss). Another example, which would mainly apply to hourly-paid jobs not related to performance evaluations and consequent career progressions, is to work for lesser number of hours per day at the cost of reduced pay, so as to make more time for setting up your own business. The important thing is that all these short-term changes should be in the direction of the long-term vision.

The long-term vision is your ideal work-life balance, directly related to your dream life. For some people this could be as simple as continuing to be in the current situation. But for others it could mean not having to work at all and have money pour in from investments that they have done over the years in that direction. The long-term vision is the most important factor towards building a future where work life balance is most ideal to you.

With that, let me take your leave now while you take your time to think over what would be an ideal work life balance for you in the current situation, and in the short-term and long-term future. And while you figure it out, it would be helpful to have your thoughts, feelings and realizations shared here in order to make it a better experience for all. Let the comments flow…