5 Ways The Work-Life Balance Myth Can Negatively Affect Your Life

Is the work-life balance myth negatively affecting your life? Work-life balance sounds like a good combination. Right? Maintaining a good work-life balance should result in a happy life. Right?

To assume that maintaining a good work-life balance is beneficial, you must believe that the workspace and living space are opposites. Therefore, they would benefit from balance.

You would also have to assume that work is not life, that you do not enjoy work, and that life outside of work is life and something you love.

This would lead to the belief that limiting time at work, the place you do not enjoy, so that it does not interfere with the life you do want is a great strategy. Is this what work-life balance means to you?

I’m not buying it. Not for a minute. LOL

This is where the work-life balance myth begins to fall apart for me. Work is not always something you hate, and life outside work is not always enjoyable.

There are times when work is life and completely enjoyable. I admit that is not usually the case, so just to be fair, we will not consider that possibility.

What would you choose if given a choice to affect work-life balance or affect your life’s purpose, priorities, and goals? Where would you spend that energy?

Why try to control the work-life balance myth? Achieving balance in life is great, but there is so much more to it. Let’s look at controlling your purpose, priorities, goals, and contribution to the world.

Here are five ways I believe the work and life balance myth can negatively affect your life.

Some People Actually Like Their Work and Life

A study shows that 13% of people worldwide actually like their work. If you are one of the lucky 13%, why limit the work you enjoy?

I am sure it’s not suggested that you limit joy at work to balance your lack of joy in life and vice versa.

We all know life is unpredictable and can be a wild ride. You are happiest when you can control the ride and make it more predictable—the pendulum of life swings from good to bad, happy, sad, and back again.

The best we can hope for is enjoying a happy medium. I guess that is some balance.

Once you accept that everything is temporary, you will be closer to living a happier life. Good times and bad times are temporary—I must say that again.

Enjoy them both. You read that correctly. Enjoy them both!

Enjoy the bad times because you know they will end soon. Also, enjoy the good times as much as possible because you know they will end soon. Balance is baked in the cake.

Understand and prepare for the storms to be most happy.

Trying to achieve and measure work-life balance in a real-life environment can make you feel like a failure. You win some, and you lose some. Work and life can become cloudy and morph into the same.

It Adds Unnecessary Stress To Your Life

Pursuing the work and life-balance myth is a recipe for failure. There are times at work you need to put in extra time. You may even enjoy the additional time you need to spend at work but feel guilty that you are not maintaining a work-life balance.

These are the times when trying to maintain the work-life balance myth can be stressful.

Doing so can be more stressful when your home life is not enjoyable. You may have a nagging or taskmaster partner waiting at home for you. Sometimes, work is less stressful than at home.

I have seen parents prefer working to home life. I even like working a few extra minutes (or hours) longer to go home to five kids. I have seen you; you know who you are. LOL.

Also, constantly working to keep a mental record of work and life as separate measurements and participation levels can be exhausting. Hell, I’m just saying it is exhausting. LOL.

Why add this unnecessary stress to your daily existence with no gain? Don’t be a robot. Be conscious and live.

Can Make You Complacent

Trying to maintain the work-life balance myth can also make you complacent. The goal of work-life balance is so low that all you have to do is exist and not even live to attain it.

You can divide the day into 8-hour chunks into work, sleep, and life.

Living to maintain the status quo, working and not achieving excellence, and living and not achieving happiness in the name of maintaining a work-life balance can lead to a false sense of security and success.

Working to maintain a work-life balance may look good on a chart or graph, but it’s not living. You are living to greet the morning, noon, and night, morning, noon, and night, morning, noon, and night, morning, noon, and night, morning, noon, and night, morning, noon, and night.

What a boring life. Is that you?

Takes Time Away From The Essential

There is no balancing the essentials of life. The essential is needed and should always be sought. For me, as a living simple minimalist, the essentials of life are all I look to achieve.

Everything else is unnecessary and optional. The myth of trying to maintain the work-life balance runs counter to that.

Sometimes, the essentials require more than work-life balance can allow. It would be best to never abandon the essentials whenever possible. This can lead to stress and physiological damage (in my opinion).

Times when you elect not to see your child in a play, miss their sports activity, or choose not to help an elderly parent in the name of work. That can’t be good for combating your mental stability and combating stress.

These are events you will never forget. You silently carry them to your grave.

I spent a lot of time working at one time. When I look back, I like all of my jobs, but I regret the extra time I spent at work. It was all voluntary, and I enjoyed it at the time, but I still regret it. I wish I had spent much more time on the essentials of life.

Situations are constantly changing at work. You or your boss get a promotion. The business gets bought or sold. All your extra time may be erased, and you will be equal to your worst co-worker. Ewwwww!

An Amazing Life is Better Than Work-Life Balance Myth

I often talk about the 168 hours everyone has in a week to make life happen. Balance is never considered part of the plan when designing a game plan to live those hours to the fullest.

You wish to make them all great, but you know that is unlikely. Then, the natural focus for me becomes priorities and goals.

When you fail to achieve what is commonly viewed as the work-life balance, you feel like a failure. But failing at something that is not real is not failing. It’s like the Kobayashi Maru (the no-win scenario) cadet training exercise in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. 

The work-life balance myth is a strategy you can’t win and may not be beneficial to achieve if you could. Forget about that life-limiting work-life balance myth; live your priorities and goals.

Work hard to achieve them, and everything else should fall into place.

There is no balance there. Just live life and rock and roll with the punches. It’s more fun that way. Plan, work hard, and achieve what is possible when it is possible. Take advantage of luck. Do you know the definition of luck? Don’t you? Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.

No work-life balance is needed. When you are prepared for anything, all you need is an opportunity to lift its sexy head.

Stay focused on your priorities and goals. Use the acronym F.O.C.U.S for motivation. Follow One Course Until Success! Don’t allow the pursuit of the work-life balance myth to bring confusion and sadness to your extraordinary life. Enjoy.

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