Work-life balance - Why do you have to separate life and work?

For many years, the media has been suggesting: "Separate life and work" or, conversely, "If you enjoy your work, you're sick..." But in my opinion, it is precisely this thesis - and not the work itself - that poisons the spirit and leads to the dissatisfaction and discrepancy in expectations that has currently arisen in so many minds and companies.

If we are realistic, we have to admit that we have to do some kind of work in order to provide ourselves and our families with an income and a certain standard of living. Winning the lottery or a rich inheritance is unfortunately not a widespread alternative. And the demand for the desired standard is getting higher and higher.

BUT: You will never achieve maximum results with minimum effort.

Athletes cannot win a competition without regular and proper training.

And you wouldn't buy a product with little benefit at a high cost.

Does "work" really have to be presented as a necessary evil? NO.

Ideally, you will find a job that you love and in which you are better than others during your studies, in your career choice and in your everyday working life through further training and personal development. And which contributes to your own success and the success of the company - an ideal symbiosis.

Why do you have to separate life and work? In a partnership or family, you don't separate the time you can "finally" spend without your partner and children and only "value" the time you have "alone", do you? That would be fatal!

In my opinion, this is completely the wrong approach. It's much more important to have chosen something at work that corresponds to your own passion and inclination and in/with which you can "make a difference", just like in a partnership. After all, you spend more time together (awake) with your colleagues than with your family. So it's essential that the spirit is just as right there as it is at home and in the relationship.

I always like to compare work to surfing: When you paddle out to ride the waves, it's no fun at all if the sea is completely calm and windless. It's not exhausting at all, but you also have 0% fun and only get sunburnt.

It's much better when a few really good "breakers" come in from time to time. And to get exactly this wave, you have to get on the surfboard at the right time and paddle for all you're worth. It's pure effort. But when you ride that wave, it's an absolute reward and a maximum feeling of happiness. And that's exactly how work should and must be. You have a goal and a task. Which - like the wave - may also inspire respect and require effort. But which you master to the point and "ride" standing up on the board. And so, in addition to your own feeling of happiness, you gain the respect and

recognition from others. And then you get the right paycheck at work. And then wait for the next wave full of energy.

Of course, even when you're surfing and at work, you sometimes "hit the washing machine", i.e. the wave crashes over you and you briefly don't know which way is up and which way is down. You have to keep a cool head and let yourself be pulled back to the surface, catch your breath, get your bearings and tackle the new wave. But no surfer gives up

And that doesn't mean that everything is bad in professional life either.

If you have a really good team, you can be pulled onto a "big wave" in Nazaré - just like the surf pros. You surf the big wave - but not alone, but with a back-up, someone who pulls you into the wave and gets you out of the surf again. This team spirit and cohesion only works if you have also "delivered" beforehand and helped your colleagues out of their "big waves".

And only through such joint successes and challenges and joint efforts can "real friendships" develop. If you just stand on the beach, don't make an effort and watch, you only increase your own dissatisfaction and frustration - and only the "others" are to blame.

It has been clinically proven that a "bore out" or "brown out", i.e. a chronic lack of demands, is significantly worse than a "burn out". If you are "overwhelmed" by tasks, think of the woodcutter who "has no time to sharpen his axe because he has to chop down trees". Pause for a moment, record tasks and create priorities, consciously leave certain tasks

consciously leave certain tasks undone or delegate them and complete them as a team. Nothing really threatens your existence.

And if you "love" surfing, are you necessarily a surfaholic?

And therefore also a "workaholic" if you enjoy your work? BULLSHIT. Because that would mean, conversely, that you have to hate your job so that you don't become a "workaholic"... And that's exactly what the currently proclaimed "work-life balance" topic suggests. Why can't work be a good part of life?

After all, you're not a "sportsaholic" if you enjoy sport and regularly look after your own body and health.

What would you do instead? Relax on the sofa and look at your cell phone?

As an athlete, it's always easier to "go one better" when you're in training. It's much worse and more painful when you start jogging or other training again after a 6-month break... The device is to keep at it. You have much more energy if you enjoy your job - and that's just as good for your health, your career and your wallet.

And stress can also be positive and help you to get something done and make a decision. Mark Twain once said "if there wasn't the last minute, things never would get done". You always need a deadline and a certain amount of pressure to get to the point. This can be perceived as a burden or as a liberation. And there's nothing better than successfully completing a project and receiving recognition from customers, colleagues and bosses.

New Work working models today make it much easier to achieve "work-life blending".

FlexOffice at home is possible if you are expecting a craftsman without having to take a day off. That's practical and a good thing for both sides. Similarly, there's nothing wrong or "sick" with checking a few emails on the train on the way home from work.

Nowadays, there are hardly any people who dare to make decisions - and then stand up for them. Rido Busse (and a few others) have already stated:

"There are doers, takers and naysayers". So don't rack your brains endlessly trying to come to a decision. Weigh up the facts and emotions in the current situation and make a decision based on this starting position. It will be just as right as it will be wrong. But you can't move forward without a decision.

At BUSSE, we live the spirit of "Management by Idol" or, even more aptly, "Management by Doing it!". Facts are evaluated together and then a clear and consistent decision is made. And clear decisions and points of reference are set for customers, teams and employees. Then you can dive back into the "flow" with full focus and complete a task in a much shorter time than if you are repeatedly interrupted and "struggle" with yourself, the task and the possible options.

And it doesn't hurt to make such decisions. In fact, it has been proven that people who are committed to their jobs and are well utilized there are also happier and more active in their private lives, and are often even involved in voluntary work and/or politics on the side, thus making a double contribution to society.

So, don't waste time trying to stop yourself from loving what you do.

This is exactly the spirit we live by at BUSSE Design+Engineering and we can only advocate shaping the future together in a positive and proactive way instead of criticizing what "the others" should do. Let's make the difference - then work won't feel like "work"!