Ryan’s Journal: The Blending of Work and Life
by Ryan Pew
I read something today that made me take pause. It mentioned that in the early days of the internet, hen chat rooms were prevalent, you would tell people you were taking a break and would be back soon.
It was announced when you wouldn’t be there, because you had to literally sit at a computer to chat. Nowadays, we don’t need to do that as we are always on and always connected.
Until I read that post it didn’t occur to me how true that is. We can be at work, home, the beach and still be connected.
This is a topic touched on quite a bit and I have been intrigued by it for some time. When we are younger we can go to work and then home. They are separate entities. I had a job working at Pizza Hut as a teen. I can recall not once did I get home thinking about work or responding to emails. ( I did love it though, as I’m a huge pizza fan).
One result of that job was that I didn’t learn the lesson that sometimes work does need to be done at home or after hours. And now, as a professional, I struggle to figure out a balance to it all.
I had a CEO tell me one time that work and life are actually a blend.
There will typically not be a true balance, but both bleed into each other. As a father I find myself on my phone too much at home. Sometimes it’s work and sometimes not.
The blend idea teaches that the most important thing is to be present in the moment. It will pay dividends in the long run.
Being present may be the most important lesson I have learned on this topic.
And perhaps if we, as a society, put it in practice then work-life balance would not be such an issue.
I don’t believe there is one simple solution, but that would be good start.
Image credit: Laura LaRose
