Exploring Work-Life Harmony During the Week of Mother’s Day
We’re all familiar with work-life balance, but the phrase is often used in reference to being unrealistic opposed to prevalent. It was hard to put a finger on what exactly felt off about it until I came across this article about Jeff Bezo’s philosophy of work-life harmony.
The word balance implies that one side is up, the other is down and that when both are level, they’re just that: level. At Memo Agency, we strive for a baseline that’s higher than neutral. We refer to this elevated baseline as contentment.
Side note: I recently created a Contentment Calculator to explore tracking contentment as a measure of company health, just like we track our financials and team bandwidth. In the coming weeks, I’ll be piloting the tool and tinkering to see if we can capture, quantify, and track contentment across the team. But I digress…
On the other hand, harmony implies a more elevated state. The facets of us, such as work and life, are interconnected and have the power to elevate each other. When I’ve had an amazing morning with my family, I enter the office (or, well, Zoom room) with a certain pep in my step. Conversely, if I end the work day feeling unresolved, then I’m not entirely present at home. While compartmentalization boosts focus, it’s easy for mental and emotional boundaries to blur.
Work-life harmony is a core value of Memo Agency because we hold contentment so highly. This is particularly on our minds this week as we celebrate the moms, future moms, and women in our lives. Working parents are particularly expected to devote a wealth of energy in different directions simultaneously, giving our all to both work and family. There are many historical norms and social circumstances that make this a complicated issue, but today we’re focusing on what’s within our control promoting contentment through work-life harmony.
Here are our top tips for using your calendar as a tool to create and maintain work-life harmony:
Be mindful about time and energy allocation.
If we can be more mindful about how we’re spending our time and energy and which of those outlets are promoting or detracting from our contentment, then we’re more empowered to take agency and make decisions with intentionality. While “work” and “life” are the two common facets considered, “life” can be broken down into countless subcategories. Life can mean family, friends, self, pets, health, wellness, philanthropy, hobbies, and a multitude of other dimensions of what makes us who we are and how we allocate our time.
TIP: Color code your calendar for a more accurate perspective of how you’re allocating your time and energy.
Aim for strengths-based roles.
People in strengths-based roles enjoy more contentment. Whether at work or in life, we operate more naturally and comfortably in strengths-based roles, which allows us to conserve extra energy, maintain focus, and boost contentment. We’re all about continually learning and growing, but we certainly feel more fulfilled when we’re serving our special sauce instead of struggling through task after task.
TIP: In your color-coded calendar, once an event or task has passed, note your mood and whether you’re feeling elevated or down and try to pinpoint what’s causing the high or low.
Look for an overarching trend.
Every day is different and work-life harmony is fluid, not linear. Some days, we simply can’t feel our most content. Whether something is going on in our own personal experience or we’re influenced by outside social or political factors, we can’t always be riding high. Just because we aim for work-life harmony and an elevated baseline of contentment doesn’t mean that we don’t miss out on family or fun time to pull an extra long work day on occasion. In those moments, it’s important to maintain perspective and note the overarching trend, not just what you’re experiencing in that moment. Again, in a fulfilling and strengths-based role, the ebb and flow of life can feel more comfortable and less invasive in the first place.
TIP: When work-life harmony feels off and contentment feels lower, look back at your calendar and identify when that shift happened and what could have caused it. Seek to understand what you’re experiencing at present and what’s ahead. Do you see the light at the end of the tunnel or is this out of sync-ness creeping into a trend?
Take agency.
Be open to making a change and advocating for your own happiness when it’s the appropriate time or setting. While there are many societal factors that affect certain groups’ ability to take agency, we’re in the midst of a movement with more and more champions backing each person’s ability to elevate their life experience. Recapture control and create your life.
TIP: Make a note on your calendar a few days or weeks into the future to check-in with yourself. If you’re feeling work-life harmony again, then the low was a blip that you may be able to identify and avoid in the future. If not, then set and deadline to take agency and hold yourself accountable.