Can we now bin the term ‘work-life’ balance’?

Back in 2013, I was bemoaning the oft-used term ‘work-life balance’.

My beef was that the opposite of work isn’t life and the opposite of life isn’t work, and that many people can at times feel more alive at work than when not at work.

It shouldn’t be about a battle between the two, but how the two can coexist. If this wasn’t so imperative back in 2013 (which I would suggest it was), it is especially so now, with the practice of working from home being accepted and normalised, as we all sought to ensure our organisations could support our beneficiaries during the various pandemic lockdowns.

So I was rather encouraged to read this month’s MHFAEngland blog written by their Chief Executive, Simon Blake, discussing the third My Whole Self Day, taking place on 18 March 2022.

The term wellbeing is central to this initiative, and Simon says(!) “We know that wellbeing and productivity fuel one another. Work done well gives us purpose and contributes to our sense of identity, it creates connections and relationships and opens us to new experiences. It can be joyful and fun.”

So maybe we can assign the term work-life balance to the dustbin of out-dated concepts and focus on embracing wellbeing in the workplace?

The bonus is that the term ‘wellbeing’ is also relevant to our non-work existence, so no balance needed, just our whole selves wherever we are and whatever we are doing. 😀