Balance: Find it or you will regret it

Work-life balance is something we hear about on a regular basis. I discuss it with my clients as they find that they want to be companies that support work-life balance. I discuss it with my clients’ employees as they want to find it for themselves. Work-life balance is something we all strive for.

Balance itself is a word that can help us in many areas. When things are balanced, we can do things better. We can do good things and we can even do more of them. But most importantly, with balance, we don’t get too far off to one side in any area.

What does that mean? When you have balance, you are in the middle of the spectrum. On one end of the spectrum, you have one extreme and on the other end of the spectrum, you have the complete opposite. Being in the middle means that you have found a way to incorporate parts of both.

When it comes to work-life balance, this can be difficult to achieve. I know that you have to work in order to maintain a living. When I was an employee, I knew that I had to work in order to keep my job. As a business owner, now I know that I have to work in order to keep my business moving in the right direction.

My clients know all of this too, which is why they want their employee s to work hard for them. They not only want this, but expect employees to work hard on a regular basis. That is what makes a successful business. Hard working people doing their hard work every day is how a company gets ahead.

There is more to life than work, however. Just because hard work leads to success, does not mean that the harder you work and the further you are on the spectrum, the better you will be. This may be true in short stints, but over the long-term, you need to find balance or you will not be able to sustain the pace and eventually your performance will fall off.

My clients also know this, which is why they want to be supportive of a balanced work culture. When they talk about their employees, you hear about more than simply output or hours worked. You hear terms like sustainability, quality and of course balance. These terms are what come from a workforce that is not stuck on one end of the spectrum.

I’ve seen companies on both ends of the spectrum. We all know what happens when a workforce doesn’t do very much. We all know how it goes when people aren’t working hard or not working at all. That is never a good thing. What we don’t always think about is the consequences of working too hard.

Working too hard has consequences too. What happens when we work too hard? We start to see issues like fatigue and poor quality. Think about the work that is completed at the end of a long day or after too many hours, days and weeks in a row. What does the work look like? It actually takes longer to do the same tasks and you make more mistakes.

When it comes to health, work-life balance is very important. We all know what happens when you don’t take care of your health. You lose it and problems ensue. When you are on one end of the spectrum with your health, there is only one way that it will end. Well there are actually many ways it can end, but they are all bad. Heart issues, diabetes and even cancer are all attributed to poor lifestyle. Making unhealthy choices has clear consequences.

My clients know this too. Businesses that want to be successful today and in the long-run are taking note of this. They know that working hard is important, but they also know that taking care of health has a significant impact on their employees and the work they do.

Companies are seeing this in all industries. Balance doesn’t mean that people are exercising instead of working. Balance does not mean that people are reading nutrition labels instead of reports. And no, balance does not mean that employees are researching health products online instead of sending company emails. Balance means that people are working hard and making time for other things.

We all know that working hard is the key to getting ahead. What we need to realize is that people can’t work hard if they don’t have health. They can’t work hard if they don’t have rest. They can’t work hard of they don’t take time to recharge and recover.

Balance is more than just rest. Balance is both working hard and relaxing. Finding this balance is not only the key to health, but it is the key to success overall. Without balance, you cannot achieve success in any area. The idea of balance is good for everyone. Finding it is another story. When you find it, good things happen. If you don’t find it, there is a whole list of reasons for regret.