Around water coolers or at happy hour you may hear, “We don’t have work-life balance in our organization.” In this new world of remote and hybrid work, and so much advanced technology, how do we change conversation to work-life integration from work-life balance. Work-life integration versus work-life balance is about effectively managing your time, energy, and priorities so you can succeed professionally without sacrificing your personal life, family and friend relationships. It’s about knowing how to prioritize your time. Growing up on a farm my dad would say, “We make hay when the sun shines.” It didn’t matter how many hours you worked when there were crops to get in from the harvest; many times, we worked very long hours but then we had other times we had more time dedicated to personal activities. Whether you put in 40 hours or who knows how many hours in a week, it’s about using and planning your time for productive use. Learn to prioritize your daily activities with what matters most to you, whether that’s career growth, recreation, family, health, or personal passions so that when weeks are long the important things are not left out. In our technology industry, as in many others, you can’t always predict the demand requirements but by understanding work-life integration we can fulfill our priority values of faith, family, then business.

Let’s Compare Ways of Viewing Work Life

Work Life Balance
You have distinct boundaries: work and personal life are separate.
Your goal is to divide time evenly between work and home.
You measure success in how well you switch it off when you leave work, which is impossible to do in today’s world.
You are often reactive trying to “fix” imbalance.
You burn a lot of emotional energy over imbalance perspective.

Work Life Integration
Blended approach: work and life flow together naturally.
Goal is to align work with personal values and lifestyle.
Success is measured by how fulfilled and energized you feel.
Creating an environment where work fits seamlessly into your lifestyle.

Example:

• Balance mindset: I leave work at 5PM and don’t think about it until tomorrow.
• Integration mindset: I take a midday break to attend my child’s school event then work later in the evening after children are in bed so I can focus on my other priorities.

Priority Consideration: Do I have balance integration between work, values, and lifestyle.

• Does my work reflect my personal values?
• Am I motivated by what I do or am I constantly physically and mentally drained?
• Can I adapt my schedule to support my family, relationships, and personal interests?
• Am I taking time to do honest reflection on whether I’m meeting my priorities?
• Is my work environment conducive to my desired lifestyle?

When your work-life integration supports your values, life goals, and your motivation, then you should be energized about the future.

• Incorporating Work Integration into Daily Life

Depending on your profession here are some ideas to blend work and life.

Design Your Schedule

• Where possible use flexible hours to fit work around personal and family priorities.
• Plan productive peaks when you know you can get the most done.

Set Priorities

• Prioritize what matters most both professionally and personally for you and your family.
• Say no to projects or commitments that don’t serve your goals or values.
• Have committed daily family time where it is all family interaction not distractions.
• Reduce the amount of social networking that doesn’t serve your personal or professional priorities.

Create Work Routines

• Have a morning routine transitioning into work mode. Ex: coffee, prayers or exercise.
• Review your priority list created previous night.
• End your day with a wind-down practice, like reviewing today’s wins and lessons learned.
• Always end your day with positive thoughts and thanksgiving.
• Create a priority list for next day of things to accomplish.

Integrate Relationships into Work

• Share what you do with your family, so they understand and support your work.
• Bring positive things home or things you might discuss that you will like more input on, but be careful not to bring home gossip, office conflicts, work politics, and drama.
• Build meaningful relationships with team members and share in successes so work feels personally enriching, not just transactional.
• Make it a habit to praise and recognize fellow team members.

When Work Becomes Part of Your Life

The ultimate level of work -life integration is when your work no longer feels like work but gives you a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment in serving and giving to others whether at work, in church, youth activities, or community.
Examples:

• A teacher who works tirelessly and finds purpose in nurturing others both in and outside the classroom.
• Team members who help organizations by tirelessly working around the clock to recover organization from ransomware attack.
• A business entrepreneur whose business reflects their culture, family values, and passions.
• A doctor or nurse who works several shifts just to make sure everyone is treated.
• A roof laborer who works daybreak until dark to make sure a home or business is covered and protected.

Incorporating this work style doesn’t mean you don’t have a life outside of work, it means work- life integration will fulfill both your personal and professional life. For those with families integrating your work into your life will not only build great relationships but also great respect from your children.

Thoughts to Reflect On

I always share with team members and perspective prospects I interview that life is very short so make sure you are doing things that give you fulfillment both personally, professionally and financially. Here are some of my thoughts to think about you can design your work-life integration:

• What kind of life do I want to build, and how does work fit into that vision?
• Which aspects of my work bring me joy and fulfillment, and which drain me?
• How can I design my schedule to reflect both personal and professional priorities?
• Where can I set boundaries to protect my energy and relationships?
• Is my work focused on serving and giving to others?

In summary, for me growing up on a farm then starting a business, integrating work and life has been second nature, but I still find it important to create disciplined habits. After college though, I spent a couple of years chasing a corporate consulting dream, but it didn’t bring me happiness as I was not integrating work and life due to demands of the firm and the need to chase a leadership position at any price. If you aren’t finding work-life integration in your current role, then take time to evaluate what you can do differently, ask other team members how they integrate their work and life, and evaluate if you are in the right place at this time in your life.