Work-Life Balance?
At work we’ve been discussing the topic of work-life a lot.
It’s true there are many aspects of work and life which go together. Sometimes the people here work so hard... and it seems they don’t have lives outside working, shopping, eating and... and eating some more.
So how do Singaporeans see work? I believe it may be something like my parents... they see work as life. Working is living because it’s something that you do that keeps you active, keeps your brain alive. So they may work in the weekends too. Most recently, Mum wanted to keep working because she felt so bored sitting at home. She had no other hobbies, work was her hobby. On the other hand, a Japanese man recently dropped dead after doing 100-hour weeks...
It could be a bit like when you enjoy working in AIESEC, it doesn’t feel like work at all because it just becomes a part of who you are and you want to excel at it. It’s no longer work. But sometimes we are made to feel guilty for working too much or for not working enough.
However, when the question of work-life balance comes up in surveys despite people feeling fulfilled with their work, they may still put a low score because “balance” implies 50/50 – they might be working 60/40 still happy but cannot rate that as “balanced”.
What is work-life balance to you? Does work-life effectiveness sound like a better description? Should you be able to determine what percentage of time you spend is most fulfilling to you. Is work the enemy? Are work and life different things? Do they have to be separated? Like chalk and cheese?
Is it wrong to enjoy being at work? OMG so many questions ?_?
It’s true there are many aspects of work and life which go together. Sometimes the people here work so hard... and it seems they don’t have lives outside working, shopping, eating and... and eating some more.
So how do Singaporeans see work? I believe it may be something like my parents... they see work as life. Working is living because it’s something that you do that keeps you active, keeps your brain alive. So they may work in the weekends too. Most recently, Mum wanted to keep working because she felt so bored sitting at home. She had no other hobbies, work was her hobby. On the other hand, a Japanese man recently dropped dead after doing 100-hour weeks...
It could be a bit like when you enjoy working in AIESEC, it doesn’t feel like work at all because it just becomes a part of who you are and you want to excel at it. It’s no longer work. But sometimes we are made to feel guilty for working too much or for not working enough.
However, when the question of work-life balance comes up in surveys despite people feeling fulfilled with their work, they may still put a low score because “balance” implies 50/50 – they might be working 60/40 still happy but cannot rate that as “balanced”.
What is work-life balance to you? Does work-life effectiveness sound like a better description? Should you be able to determine what percentage of time you spend is most fulfilling to you. Is work the enemy? Are work and life different things? Do they have to be separated? Like chalk and cheese?
Is it wrong to enjoy being at work? OMG so many questions ?_?
posted by Amy at 5:45 PM
2 Comments:
I can see my PoV changes how I see work-life balance. I would consider work life balance if I have the time to do as much work as I want as well as doing the things I want outside of work.
For AIESEC it's a bit tricky, first if you love what you're doing you dont need to work for a day - thus spending 50 hour/week is a work-life balance to me when you really do enjoy it, it is fulfillling and you can squeeze other non-AIESEC related activities on top of it and you are happy with it.
ahh that is sound philosophy, Nikita :) I now also set aside some time to be 'Vegatable'. Unlike 'Marshmellow', the 'Vegatable' takes less effort but one still needs to plan into the schedule ;)
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