As the school year is now well underway, I have been reflecting on the importance of work-life balance. It is promoted constantly as being an important part of our lives, and while it definitely is important, I wonder sometimes if the way we talk about it sends the wrong message. To be clear here I am not saying that this is the way the term is intended, but in the way we talk about it I feel that perhaps we are not always framing it up properly.

Generally, when this is mentioned, it is mostly focused on enjoying the ‘life’ part of the balance to help offset the ‘work’ part of the balance. This of course sets these two things up in opposition to each other, creating connotations of good and bad, where life is the good and work is the bad. When we start to allow this association of work being bad, it makes it much more difficult to find the joy and fulfillment while we do it.

Look at the language of work-life balance as opposed to work-home or work-”non-work,”etc. The problem with setting it up in this way is that it becomes a false dichotomy. Here, we are claiming that work is not a part of our life, yet, many of us would identify our profession as a key component of our identity. For myself, when asked to describe myself I start with things like being a father and husband, though teacher and leader are often near the top of that list as well.

I think it’s important for us to re-frame this work-life thing while still holding on to some core ideas around self-care so that work isn’t framed as the unwanted negative. To be clear, I’m not advocating that components of our work aren’t difficult or that maybe that work may have more draining or more unwanted tasks than home does, separate it from our ‘life’ is also not correct and problematic

For those like myself, work gives a sense of purpose, fulfillment and a sense of identity. There are qualities of work that invigorate and energize us with some challenges which can actually fill our cup. If you take joy and satisfaction from work then taking on those types of tasks aren’t depleting us and so we can tackle more of them. 

I think that we need to shift our thinking to a better balance between energizing and non-energizing tasks. At work, there are lots of energizing tasks that make us feel good. I doubt there are too many educators who are just absolutely sick of students who finally start to master the material, have too much success with us, or are too likeable for us. For those creative types where work is an outlet to express that creativity, it sometimes may feel like work at all. My suspicion is that the parts of work that lead to burnout and stress are those tasks we find draining and that don’t fill our cup (I am sure you can come up with a few of them). 

Similarly, the non-work side of our lives can also be difficult or draining. Things like finances, home repairs, babies with colic, etc can be every bit (if not more!) stressful than anything we face in the workplace. Simply promoting a work-life balance without recognizing that both sides can be hard is not a successful strategy if the goal of a healthy work-life balance is a positive mindset and outlook. If bringing a balance means that we are ensuring we have difficult things both at work and at home, then I’m not sure I am too interested in that.

I think that we should be instead looking for a better energizing to draining ratio. Ideally the good parts, the reinvigorating parts, should exceed the draining parts. Maybe you have a ratio or a percentage of 30% invigoration at work and 70% out of work where you have a 70% drain at work and a 30% drain at home, in this scenario, you are in balance, but I think we can do better than balance. I think we can have an net positive if we manage ourselves carefully.

The way to do this is much less about Balance, and much more about Boundaries. Keeping boundaries can protect you from the draining things by not letting them overlap or over-take the energizing parts of our day, whether that is at work or at home. Being mindful of what you take on, aligning passion with tasks, staying connected to positive people, knowing when to park draining tasks and when to say 'no' are all much more important for your positive well being than simply balance.

For leaders, being aware of these boundaries and the blend of energizing and non-energizing tasks is essential. We need to find ways to de-implement as many of the draining tasks as we can (or at least lessen their impact on us), especially those that are low impact and have little value. This is both in our own practice, as well as in the environment in which we lead. An example of this is to encourage teachers to not answer emails while at home, as emails are rarely something that fills our cup. So while, at home people need to be responsible for themselves, at work we must acknowledge that we have a responsibility to those we lead and this is crucial if we are to keep teachers in our profession and in our schools.