Last friday, I was invited as one of the expert panelist for MediaCorp Radio 938 Live outdoor program, ‘Campus‘.
The event was held at ITE College West and the topic for discussion that day was “Do our youths work hard and play hard at school? How important is it to our youths to have a well-balanced school life?”
If you missed the live broadcast, you can listen to it again here:
CAMPUS @ ITE College West:
I had a great time sharing and adding value to the discussion based on my work and experience as a speaker who specialize in intrinsic motivation and high performance teams.
The presenter of the day, Angela Lim of Radio 938 Live did a fantastic job of facilitating the panel discussion, which also includes a student counsellor, a lecturer and a top performing ITE West College student. Students from the audience also weigh in their opinions and tips on managing school-life balance.
However, is there a work-life balance?
As the topic discussed was circulated around the topic of school-life balance, I thought it can be related to one of the most debated topics for adults too – work-life balance!
The concept of work-life balance has got many people to discuss if we are over-working and not getting enough personal leisure time, and if people should have a work-life balance.
To this topic, regardless of a school-life or work-life balance, this is what I have to say.
There is no such thing as “work-life balance”.
Because, there will never be a balance!
Things are never in equilibrium. If there is equilibrium, that means if you work 10 hours a day, that means you will get 10 hours of rest. Is there such a job? (Do recommend me if there is!) We will never be in balance because there is always a higher disproportionate amount of time we spend on work.
Those who support the idea of work life balance means that you can work but still find time to spend it with your loved ones or on things that you are interested in. However, my idea challenges this notion because I believe that we even though we have more time, it may not be well spent. The important thing is to find rest and maximise it what whatever time we have.
Hence, instead of debating how we can balance our work and personal lives by giving a ratio of hours to each, we can ask ourselves this question: “How can we find rest and personal enjoyment with whatever time we have?”
Here are the three strategies I shared on the show with the audience that day on how they can find rest and personal enjoyment time in spite of a busy school life schedule they have.
1. Be Rested
If you only have 3-4 hours of time after work, do make sure that you are in a state of rested-ness. Time to rest and being rested are two different things. A person can have time to rest, but does not do things that he or she finds rest in. For others who know what is rest to them; this may mean taking this time to read a book, watch of movie, or even simple actives just as playing sudoku puzzles.
2. Be Present
It is also important to schedule work and play time and be very present in it. The worst thing is to think of play when you’re supposed to work, and to think of work when you’re supposed to play. (Don’t keep thinking of the greener grass on the other side!)
3. Be in Flow
Find your flow. The meaning behind flow is when you engage in an activity that challenges you in a certain skill level and you put in tremendous amount of concentration, that you lose sense of time. It is researched that people who engage in their flow are happier people. Yes. This is one of the many strategies I shared in my keynote speeches about Creating Lasting Happiness.
I find my flow in being engaged in playing games. Some find it in crushing candy, sports or others. What about you? Have you found your flow?
i hope these three strategies are helpful to you in finding your personal enjoyment time amongst your busy work schedule! Share it with others who are still struggling to find their work-life balance too!
