LIFE-WORK INTEGRATION
“There is pressure at work to deliver to reach my assigned target in a very competitive industry and I struggle with my domestic responsibilities because I always have to wake up as early as 4:30 am to beat the traffic jam and get to work earlier than my immediate supervisor and close after 6:30 pm when my boss has nothing for me to finish for him. So, my work and social life is not balanced. I cannot manage both domains because the time for social life is limited. My very young children do not even get to see me when I leave for work in the morning and upon my return, the best contact I have with them is to carry them to their beds and say the bedtime prayer because that’s the remaining job my young wife leaves for me as my way to bond with the kids. On weekends my boss does not engage me, I have to get about my side hustle to make up for the rest of the bills and this is after my weekend lectures. There is nothing like daddy is home, unless he is sick or just about to go out”, A 38- year-old middle-income man lamented.
You may be
struggling with where your thoughts as to what your situation look like. Try any
of these sites for a quick test and get back to us…
https://mind.help/assessments/work-life-balance-test/
https://owllytics.com/work-life-balance-audit/
SOME BACKGROUND
According to research carried out by
the International Labor Organization (ILO), a global authority on issues of labor
in 2019, about the average number of hours of work, the average actual hours of
work per week in Africa is 38.8 which falls last two places among 160 countries
sampled from 13 regions of the world.
The ILO’s Declaration of Philadelphia
boldly asserts that “labor is not a commodity” (Art. I(a)). While this
statement may appear to be rather idealistic, it simply recognizes the obvious
fact that unlike tradable commodities (goods and services), workers are people
with hopes, dreams, and aspirations for themselves and their families. The
Declaration of Philadelphia goes on to affirm that “all human beings,
irrespective of race, creed or sex, have the right to pursue both their
material well-being and their spiritual development in conditions of freedom
and dignity, of economic security, and equal opportunity” (Art. II(a)). In
other words, paid work is about more than just meeting workers’ material needs;
they also need to have the opportunity to fulfill their personal lives as well.
In today’s world, we might say that this means that workers need to have a
healthy work–life balance. (Working Time and Work-Life Balance Around the
World, ILO, 2022).
Many efforts by the ILO since its
inception in 1919 as part of the Treaty of Versailles (which ended World War 1)
have sought to reduce hours of work after the Industrial Revolution, and
successful they have become in drastically reducing it first for women,
children and then for all workers. However, the reduction of the working hours has
rather resulted in an increase in the demand for productivity among workers
from employers. So, although the average worker does averagely 40 regular hours
a week, he or she is expected to deliver the results of one who has worked 70
hours, all in the name of profit maximization, putting an increasing unprecedented
toll on the mental, psychological and physical well-being of the employee.
From the realization of this
phenomenon, the labor giant ILO and many experts who lean on the side of employers and live on
their funds have coined the term Work-Life Balance, an apparent attempt to give
the burdened employee some respite and to think of their employers and managers
as saviors of their predicament. But as objective Human Resources
Practitioners, we seek to lift the veil of the century-old tale and game and
unapologetically declare that this article is prepared for struggling employees
in every industry of labor.
It is okay for you to change your
posture in reading this work from here. Have you considered the cunning
capitalist coined word Work-Life or Labor-Life Balance? This popular
terminology is designed to create an impression in the minds of workers that paid
work comes first in all they are and do before any other thing they engage in
as human beings. Do you see that? This is meant for you to put paid work ahead
of your life as a person. A business coach once said that putting our paid work
ahead of our lives is a slow form of suicide and we cannot agree less because,
in such a world, every other thing is sacrificed for the 8-5 job where in many
cases you are not really paid what you are worth especially in the African
space.
Let’s consider this analysis in a few
seconds, how many hours are left after the 8 hours of paid work from the 24
hours in a day? With whom do you spend the rest of the hours? For whom do you labor
for the salary or wage? What were you about before starting this 8-hour job?
Will you be about the 8-hour job for the rest of your life? How soon will you
be replaced when you are no longer able to dance to the boss’ tune because it
was changed before you knew it?
Have you now realized that we have
lived in the employer’s world for many years of our adult lives? Indeed, your
life is first then a paid job among other very important things. The day you
get to appreciate this, your liberation to an effective life begins, we know it
might take some of you a while to come to terms with this because of how
endemic it is. But at least with the little sparkle, we hope you will be able
to follow us through the rest of the discussion. Right from here, with your
consent, we change the enslaving term work-life balance to Life-Work
Integration or Life-Work Alignment simply because, paid work cannot be equated
to the totality of the life of a person, at best, it can only be an aspect of
it.
Now, what is
Life-Work integration?
Life-work
integration is a crucial aspect of one’s psychological and mental well-being.
It involves prioritizing personal and professional activities and allocating
time accordingly to maintain a healthy integration of personal life and paid work,
including family time, self-care, and leisure activities.
As individuals advance in age, their
responsibilities and engagements in life increase until an apex before an
apparent decline when they play less physically demanding roles. Many workers
start as sons or daughters, siblings, nephews, cousins, and friends into
spouses and parents or caregivers, socially influential persons, and religious volunteers,
among other engagements in their communities. They must also make room in their
lives for taking care of their own physical and mental well-being. Living and
engaging in all the above can be very demanding, hence, the need for this life is
essential.
EFFECTS OF A LIFE-WORK
IMBALANCE.
If you find a few of these signs in
your life, they indicate you aren’t giving your best to your own life and will need
to take steps to live a more productive life.
·
Increased stress
levels and stress-related illnesses
·
Lower life
satisfaction
·
Frequent family
conflicts
·
Divorce
·
Rise in drug and
substance abuse
·
Unstable productivity
·
Incessant change
of jobs
·
Sense of
helplessness
To get into a shift into a better life,
let’s look into a few things that will help us live the optimum life as complex
individuals involved in many endeavors. We first look at our personal lives and
how to schedule our engagements then managing our paid job which has occupied a
critical portion of our lives today.
HOW TO LIVE
EFFECTIVELY
·
Take a good stock
of your own life. Reflect and
introspect on your life and what you have been about these recent years. Are you
living your goals and dream? Are you doing what you have always wanted to do? What
can you do about those that aren’t in alignment?
·
Stop
confusing paid work & home
life – When at work be at work when at home be at home.
·
Make Self-Care
a big deal – Get enough sleep, exercise and be
intentional about your nutrition.
·
Leverage
your natural internal clock. At what
time of the day are you most effective and at your ‘A’ game? Get the most
critical things done at the right time.
·
Unplug – Create virtual boundaries and stick to them
(reduce internet, TV, Email, Smart Phone, iPad usage) – they have you feel your
natural self.
·
Free your weekends
for you and your family – Slowly
adjust your schedule to allow more time for weekend fun.
·
Take time
for yourself – You need time
to recharge the energy.
·
Stop trying
to do it all – Prioritize
what is important so you work on the items that get results. Know your do now,
do later, delegate and don’t do stuff.
·
Learn to say
‘NO’ – You’re not saying no to that lovely
person. it’s a ‘NO’ to the task you know very well you are unable to perform.
·
Encourage
Quiet Time at home – Teach your
children to appreciate solitude and time for reflection, this will allow you to
do the same.
·
Block out
time on your schedule– time with
staff, partner, children, spouse and personal time
·
If your workplace
is supportive of your personal development pursuits, ask your manager about the
possibility of job flexibility to better accommodate your schedule when you need
it. This would allow you to adjust your working hours either earlier or later
than the typical 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. or miss a day to be replaced with a weekend.
·
Create
a buffer between job time and time home. After work, take a brief walk, do a crossword puzzle, or listen to some
music before beginning the evening’s routine.
·
Decide
on the chores.
Determine which household chores are critical and which can be done by someone
else.
·
Exercise. Even if it’s only for 15 minutes at a time, you’ll
feel more energized and refreshed.
·
Make
choices. Social, community and volunteer
obligations pull us in many directions. Choose the ones that are most
fulfilling and learn to say “no” to the rest.
·
Keep a
Family Calendar. Don’t miss important
dates in the lives of your cheerleaders.
·
Keep your
Sense of Humor – Make chores
fun and inject humor when you can don’t allow the pressures of your paid work
to get the best of you. If you no humor yourself, get online and laugh to
relax.
HOW TO BE
EFFECTIVE WITH OUR PAID JOB
·
As much as
possible, get into the work you love and have passion for. If you are already
employed and satisfied with the demands of the work and your remuneration,
develop a love for the job.
·
Intentionally
create a cordial but professional relationship with your bosses
·
Learn to be a
team player and get involved with the success of your colleagues and
subordinates
·
Know what you are
about each day before you arrive at the workplace. A simple to-do list very early
in the day or the day before will set you off for a more productive day.
·
Schedule
brief breaks for yourself throughout the day. Your productivity and
effectiveness will increase if you take even a ten-minute break every two hours
and overall, you will get more accomplished.
·
At the
end of each day, set your priorities for the following day. Be realistic about
what you can achieve in the time you have available.
·
Make a
distinction between paid work and the rest of your life. Protect your private
time by turning off electronic communications. Don’t be available 24/7,
provided your kind of job allows it.
·
Make good use of
your PTO. If your work provides paid time off (PTO), as long as you follow your
employer’s policy, you can selectively use a PTO day for study time leading up
to a main exam or presentation. And if your company closes during the holidays,
consider using this time to be a part of some of the once-in-a-life-time events
of those who mean a lot of you
LIFE MANAGEMENT
TOOLS
In a tech age like ours, though we
advise you get intentional with electronic devices and screen time, numerous
solutions are provided through applications web systems that almost plays assistantship
roles for us. Take a look these and integrate one or two into your daily
schedule.
1. MyLifeOrganized: A task organizer and manager for personal
life, with features like daily planner and subtasks.
2. Google Tasks:
A simple and easy-to-use app for managing tasks and to-dos for an effective
living
3. Any.do:
A personal task management and to-do list app that synchronizes across devices
4. Sunsama:
A personal task management app that
helps organize tasks, to-dos, and meetings
5. Akiflow:
A task management tool that helps manage personal tasks and keep schedules
under control.
6. Week Plan:
A personal task management app that helps manage time and focus on important
tasks.
7. DragApp:
An email-centric personal task management tool that integrates with Gmail.
8. OmniFocus:
A p personal task manager that helps capture thoughts and ideas into to-do
lists.
9. Routinist:
A schedule planner app that helps with daily routine, habit, and ritual
management.
10. Todoist:
A task management and organizer app that helps stay on top of tasks and projects.
PRACTICAL STEPS
TO REALIZING AN EFFECTIVE LIFE-WORK INTEGRATION.
FROM YOUR REFLECTIONS AFTER READING
THIS MATERIAL WHAT THINGS HAVE YOU REALIZED TO…:
·
Do Less
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
·
Do Differently
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
·
Stop Doing
………………………………………………………………………………………………………
·
Continue Doing
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
· Do More……………………………………………………………………………………………..
·
Start Doing…………………………………………………………………………………………………..
We hope you have found a few things to
shape up how you have been going about your life and all the other highly
important responsibilities so as to increase your effectiveness as a person. Some
of the decisions to take to re-align may be tough while others are a lot easier
but more to making the decision is its implementation. Remember whatever you
choose to do from this article first benefits you and many more people you love
around you. Let’s know what you make of this in the comment session. Thank you.
29th
February, 2024
THE COLLEGE
BUSINESS CONSULT
Such a revealing article. Thanks for this!
ReplyDeleteVery resourceful....great work.
ReplyDelete