Lots of people talk about balancing home life and work life. Some reframe to call it work life integration. But almost all the narrative about WLB is about time
And while that's a useful lens, WLB is about so much more than time
I recently heard a story of an expat in Singapore who like many, worked 9-6 to cover the region and was on late calls 3- 4 days a week with the US or EMEA, and after more than a few years of this, his wife demanded he change roles to one that was less demanding from a time perspective, one that allowed him to spend more time with his young family
It took some time but he found the role and made the move from Ops to Compliance. Significantly fewer out of regular hours calls, less travel. Just what this partner wanted
But there was a catch
He hated the new job. In the words of his friend (who told me the tale), his friend " woke up miserable, went to work under a cloud, came home in the evening in a foul mood, and spent weekends complaining about how much he dreaded going back to work." He was able to spend more time with his young family, but was miserable most of the time
So he had the balance of time, but his happiness plummeted...
So as we think about WLB we need to consider several dimensions: Time, Happiness, Money and <insert other dimensions important to you here>
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