WORK-LIFE INTEGRATION: BALANCING ACT OR MORE OF A DANCE?
I’m writing this month’s blog on the heels of a significant personal milestone which is inspiring and informing my message for busy, working adults everywhere. I’m tempted to lead with a bit of a cliché – one that feels right, true and worth reinvigorating in this moment: Don’t quit your daydream.
Before I share more, I want to tee up the topic of work-life integration. You’ll notice I don’t love using the term work-life balance. To me, it’s unreasonable for life to be balanced because there are too many plot twists beyond our control. Work and life are simply not going to be equal when there’s an unexpected event or crisis. I do like the term when thinking about the physical body (like the gut for example) because the body functions optimally when variables like nutrition, hormones and physical activity are in balance.
Work-life integration, on the other hand, speaks to me because these two domains are a bit of a puzzle worth solving. How do they fit together when life is dynamic? How do we, as responsible humans with many demands, determine our boundaries and our best use of precious resources like time, money, energy and talents? My sense is that we must figure it out as we go (in real time) and we must bend, stretch, lean and leap in a variety of ways throughout the process. We must take steps forward, backward and sideways – constantly reassessing what makes sense for each of us based on our values, passions and present realities. For these reasons, I see life as a dance – sometimes awkward, other times smooth and seamless.
In this moment, I’d encourage you to reflect on what you want more of in your life. What do you really want to integrate into your day and experiences? When we make the decision to integrate something or someone into our lives, there’s an act of blending or merging. In other words, we figure out how to make this choice fit.
This past fall, I decided to weave something new into my life. Some of you may know I’m a dancer (hence my affinity for this metaphor). I had integrated more dancing into my life about 10 years ago, yet something was still missing for me. After exploring this, I decided I needed to try a slightly different path. Rather than pursuing ballroom dancing, I auditioned for a local community theatre. Fun fact: the organization, Vaud-Villities Productions, is the longest running variety show in the country. Being cast in their spring show opened an entirely new avenue for me to explore my art and perform in ways I haven’t in decades!!
I share this because I had to consider the commitment and how it would fit into my life and my family’s. How would performing in this show integrate into my work and life? In speaking with my coaching clients and peers, I hear a lot of concern and hesitation around leaping into hobbies, interests and passions because there just isn’t enough time or duty calls elsewhere. Yes, sometimes this is true – and yet I think sometimes we don’t explore what our hearts or guts are telling us about what would make us feel even more alive.
When or if an opportunity speaks to you, I’d encourage listening. Silencing this intuition comes with a cost, I assure you. Whatever it is you’re considering, I trust there’s a win-win and that many others will be inspired by your decision to act and integrate your calling(s) into your life. Your friends, family and colleagues will all take notice when you are authentically you and living in alignment with opportunities that bring you joy and healthy challenges.
Upon reading this, I hope you feel uplifted and consider what you might want to do or explore to further enrich your time on this planet. I assure you there’s a way to dance in both work and life that’s empowered by a clear vision, healthy boundaries, strong commitment and open communication. More specifically:
Clear Vision: What do you want more of in your life?
Healthy Boundaries: Where must you say “no” to others to say “yes” to yourself?
Strong Commitment: Which days/times can you consistently dedicate to your “yes”?
Open Communication: Who needs to know about your “yes” and your asks/intentions?
Those around you will be cheering you on in no time! To chat more about this topic or others, I’d encourage you to connect with me directly.
Author: Katy Tombaugh