Work-Life Balance

I Only Have 7 Trips Left. On Managing Work / Life Balance, Love & Family by Mark Suster. A reminder from Mark to be self aware of your time and spending time with your family and loved ones.

Father and Daughter Reunion (worth.com). Powerful story of how a dad left his $100 mn job to spend more time with his daughter.

When did work-life balance become such a bad thing? by DHH. Balance is neither bad nor impossible. It’s the cornerstone of a healthy, productive, and sustainable state of being.

The Downside of Work-Life Balance by James Clear. James explains the “The Four Burners Theory” of work-life balance. Each burner symbolizes one major quadrant of your life:

1. The first burner represents your family.
2. The second burner is your friends.
3. The third burner is your health.
4. The fourth burner is your work.

“The Four Burners Theory” says that in order to be successful you have to cut off one of your burners. And in order to be really successful, you have to cut off two.

Work-life balance is an unhealthy myth (qz.com). We emphasize daily balance, as if it’s necessary or possible for every day to be equally divided into neat slices no matter what is going on around us and in the lives of those we love, and no matter what our dreams, needs, or personality type. The truth is that we don’t all have the same conditions or ambitions, constraints or strengths, and not everyone thrives on balance. Sometimes there isn’t enough work, while at other points there’s too much. In the grand scheme, there is something resembling a balance. But in the short term, less so.

Work/Life balance is bullshit (Medium). I strongly believe that every person can make a living doing something they love. And often enough, it’s more of a mindset to become happy with your work. Often it’s not the work that sucks, but how we see it.

Can you work at an Amazon, Uber or Google and have a life? (mashable.com). Achieving a meaningful work/life balance, regardless of what policies are in place, is particularly difficult at younger, fast-moving companies where it’s all hands on deck all the time.

How One Silicon Valley C.E.O. Masters Work-Life Balance (NY Times). The truth is that it’s not easy balancing work with family.

Leave The Office On Time and Don’t Take Your Work Home by Darius Foroux. Whether you love your job or not — it doesn’t matter. When it’s time to go home, GO! No one needs you to be at the office 24/7. Only your ego does. Honestly, the office will be here tomorrow. Your co-workers will still be alive. Your company will not go bust. Work is about achieving results. If you can’t do that in 6–8 hours a day, you’re not effective. So instead of working overtime, read a book on personal effectiveness or get productivity training.

An Ambitious Person’s Brutally Honest Take On Work-Life Balance (Medium). You can have it all if we’re willing to:

1. Get the fundamentals right FIRST and make them non-negotiable.
2. Have Big, Hairy, Audacious Goals (BHAGS), but be patient with them.
3. Replace all-or-nothing sprints with a marathon mentality.

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