Defining Work-Life Balance in Today's Mobile, Digital World

How do YOU define the term “work-life balance” in today’s fast evolving Information Age?

Is striking an appropriate balance between working versus leisure time and family responsibilities even possible anymore due to the explosion of mobile, digital and virtual technology worldwide?

The 21st century proliferation of high-tech work tools is having a profound impact on the global workplace and swiftly redefining the traditional balance between work and personal time in fundamental ways.

As any employee knows by now, we are increasingly dependent on new technology to get our jobs done. Old-school ways of working are slowly, but surely, being eclipsed by the virtual workplace — including telecommuting and other flexible work arrangements.

Some futurists predict that robots, automation and artificial intelligence will take over many low-wage jobs in the near future.

“These days when you leave the office — if you go to an office at all — it’s easy to take the office with you on mobile devices. Maybe too easy,” reports USA-based Marketplace Radio. “A survey by the software company Good Technology says more than 80 percent of us keep checking emails and taking calls. On average, we put in an extra seven hours a week.”

Although seven hours extra work per week may not sound like much, remember that’s just the median. Therefore, for every full-time employee who abides by the traditional 40-hour work week in the USA, there is another worker who clocks 54 hours or more every week.

That’s an extra 14 hours or more of unpaid work on average.

Unique Challenges

This dynamic change in contemporary work poses unique challenges outside the work environment. It’s a conspicuous fact that as new technology evolves and becomes further embedded in our culture, there will be major ramifications in the employment arena.

Today, we are just witnessing the proverbial tip of the iceberg.

Add to this fluid situation the fact that Millennials (Generation Y) are now reportedly the largest demographic group in America, outnumbering Baby Boomers. Gen Y is likewise increasingly advancing to management and leadership positions, soon to be followed by their younger cohort, Gen Z -- the oldest of whom are starting to graduate college. This also alters the equation of how, when and where works gets done.

Such rapid change is further blurring traditional lines which have defined work parameters for decades.

In short, we are undergoing a tectonic shift , the likes of which are similar in scope to the transition from an agricultural world to the Industrial Revolution a century ago. Thus, the 21st century definition of what constitutes the appropriate work-life balance can be considered good or bad, depending upon whom you ask.

Good News, Bad News

The good news is that we are working smarter, faster and more productively via the virtual workplace. The bad news is that we don’t know where and when to draw the line between work time and personal time.

Failure to disconnect from high-tech work tools only serves to further decimate the distinction between working and private life, generally.

On one hand, some of us can’t seem to break away from obsessively checking our work emails and texts – and responding. The downside is that this may land us in quicksand if we all become addicted to new technology that governs our daily lives.

It makes sense that we don’t want to miss anything while working , even after regular business hours. But constant connectivity to a job may take a toll not only on one’s health, but also damage personal and family relationships.

According to the esteemed Mayo Clinic , an influential medical facility in the USA: “When your work life and personal life are out of balance, your stress level is likely to soar” — this can lead to a number of serious physical and mental health risks.”

Further, a recent column on Inc.com states, "Working too much can be counterproductive and hazardous to your health."

 The Inc.com articles states:

• "The available research shows that most workers in the U.S. already are working close to the point where problems can start to occur."
• "Despite how pervasive the managerial idea still is that working employees harder always translates to a better bottom line, science says that your company isn't going to gain much, if anything, if you put in much more than an extra hour or two a day."
• "Don't work more than 50 hours if you value your health, happiness, and connections to others."

That’s why we all should become more vigilant in recognizing when we eviscerate time-honored boundaries separating work from family and leisure.

The more we violate these boundaries, the more such behavior becomes embedded in the work culture and society.

This explains why France is reportedly considering a new law mandating that employees disconnect by prohibiting the use of email during non-work hours.

As The Huffington Post points out:

• "Work-related burnout appears to be a growing concern for the French government."
•  "In February, French Health Minister Marisol Touraine formed a working group in an effort to define and treat work-related exhaustion."
• "According to an April article in the French daily Les Échos, about 1 in 10 of the nation’s workforce is at a high risk of job-related burnout."
  

New Rules

However, the USA has failed to follow the good example of our friends in Europe. The result is that America is an over-worked nation.

Thus, if new rules and standards are not clearly communicated and followed , then the lines separating work land private life will permanently vanish. This obfuscation of work and personal time has the potential to collectively impact employees in other negative ways.

For example, some managers may unwittingly make false assumptions about one’s work hours. Your boss could think that working remotely carries an implicit or explicit responsibility to always be available at a moment’s notice.

Therefore, if you become too reliant on new technology for work , your boss might rightly assume that you’re available 24/7 — and manage you accordingly.

Already Addicted?

For those of us who want to maintain some semblance of work-life balance and normality, we must make conscious decisions to ditch work-related mobile, digital and virtual communication during non-work hours.

Granted that it’s not easy for workaholics to disconnect from technology , we should nevertheless exercise more self-restraint, self-awareness and self-discipline. This is because a healthy work-life balance is one which produces positive and mutually beneficial results for the employer and employee alike.

The problem for many workers, however, is that smartphones and tablets have already become virtual extensions of the individual.

In essence, too many of us are already addicted to new work-related technologies which consume a significant amount of our lives — arguably too much. Moreover, addictions are tough to break.

Yet, ultimately, the choice is ours to make. We can attempt to define and control the new rules of the high-tech work environment, or we can let evolving technology define and control us.

This all leads back to the vexing question: 

• How do YOU define work-life balance in today’s fast evolving digital, mobile and virtual world?

DBG

You also might like:

• Top 10 Reasons Why Telework Makes Good Business Sense (beBee, June 5, 2016)
  

Note: This post was first featured in the hiveBlog in March 2016 before Producer was launched. All photos courtesy of beBee.

* All opinions and views are those of the author only.

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