WORK-LIFE BALANCING.

A Myth or a reality :

People are the real capital of an organisation and are rightly called as
“Human capital”, only capital that differentiates a successful firm from
unsuccessful. Human being as any other resources are not without family,
thoughts, aspirations, status, desire, frustration, dreams, selfishness, passion,
list goes on and on. There has come a time when a topic so interesting and
challenging needs to be researched, reviewed on and implemented in the
companies.

Over a period of time, lot has been spoken on work-enjoyment, life’s

purpose, life etc. Karma Yoga in Bhagavad Geeta had mentioned that you must
live like a king and perform duties like a saint, as a water drop on lotus leave.

During 12th century, Basavanna in his Vachanas has said that work is
worship, you find God in your own work.

Vivekananda has also written a lot on this concept of how we must live,
how we must work etc.

Stephen Covey has spoken about how we must live realistically.

Cheese Philosophy on how a person must be adoptive to achieve his
goals in life.

Fish philosophy speaks about involvement in our works, so that we can

enjoy work.
Lean management speaks on cutting down ‘muda’ in work place.

Swami Sukhabodananda has spoken on how to relax in life so as to enjoy

our work as well as life.

Osho has also given lot of speech on leading a better lives.

“The moment of truth” of the management philosophy speaks on value to the
customer base and who matters the most at a given point of time and how.

Although list goes on and on, we are yet a long way to go in finding
ways of how to balance work as well as life. So, work-life balancing has lot of
opportunities as well as challenges.

“Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the
air. You name them – Work, family, health, friends, and spirit – and you’re
keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber
ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls – family, health,
friends, and spirit – are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be
irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered. They will
never be all the same, you must understand that and strive for balance in your
life”. Brian G. Dyson, CEO, Coco Cola.

If one is not careful, work can take over your life. Hardly surprising, then
that there’s an epidemic of workplace stress. While balancing work & life has
received a lot of attention over the years, the truth is there is more smoke than
fire. People work longer hours in down sized and super competitive work
environments that pressure people to make life their second priority. Many
workers feel they must choose between work and life. Either they must confirm
to get promotions or sidestep their carrier for family - a tough and bitter pill to
swallow.

There are instances when a person starts feel as though is life has come to
a standstill once he starts working. This feeling arises, since most of the people
today are unable to balance personal life and professional life. Basic concept of
work-life balancing is whether a person has a life outside work and does he
enjoy both work as well as life. Robert. B. Reich has rightly stated “to me, all the
popular talk “balance” was rubbish. There is no such thing as work-life balance
if you cannot get enough of both work AND life”. It is a unfortunate fact that
work is synonym to life for most professionals. Work-life balancing is all about
healthier life, satisfying and productive life, but also enhanced personal
effectiveness and professional mastery in the long run.

WORK- LIFE BALANCING

There are basically two components in the scenario of work life balancing.

I How one views work & life.

II How to balance work & life

I In how one view work & life, there are basically three components.

Attitude decides our altitude, so our attitude towards work and life is
very important in the scenario of work-life balancing.

(1) What is work in relation to life, how does both look like

W Life W L W + L

Work and life are essentially two different things. “Do not confuse work
for life, both are not the same” Hillery Roadham Clinton. Any person must have
a “Dual Centric” approach towards work and life. Both are once KRA (key
result area)

If work & life looks like (3) Picture, no need to worry. But question boils
down to how to detect as to where we are, just sit back and make a list of
everything what you want to achieve/achieved in life, take your own time,
don’t hurry. Now segregate this into two lists. One for personal life and another
for professional life. If your work’s list is long and hardly very few items in life
list then you are in the first case. Please look at these lists and answer yourself
as to whether lists are fulfilling in itself. Some may suggest making list is based
on energy spent, time spent, or any other such criteria which I do not consider
as reliable.
(2) Once you have separated both work and life. Plan for both work as well
as life. Life in itself is a key result area, not just work. Put down all your
plans in black and white so that you can get committed to your own
plans and promises. Include small things like reading a particular novel
to a holiday in Switzerland.

Don’t forget yourself in all this scenario. Give some time to yourself. This
is an essential requirement as per the Psychologist. In case of Software
Jobs, Doctors are asking the patients to take 5 minutes break every hour
from their job so that there productivity goes up and boredom is kept
away.

(3) Act according to your plans. Keep reviewing your lists, revising it and
Updating the list. Take preventive actions so as not to repeat the
mistakes. Try to remove impediments in the way of planning and
implementing.

II HOW TO BALANCE

Work Life

(1) Decide on your priorities.

It is easy to set a priority of 50:50 but it is not possible to follow. Set your
priorities keeping in view as to what level of performance you can give
towards both. A priority of 80:20 is not a desirable ratio, any other
priority can be set keeping in view that this priority cannot be changed.
It must remain as ‘K’ the constant.

(2) Hinge Can and Must be changed only in exceptional cases like for
example promotion, marriage, death of a parent, birth of child. In such
exceptional cases two things can be resorted to
 Work

30 Life

70

Life

Work 30
70

(A) In this situation more weight to life is brining an imbalance, so one have
to either try to strike a balance or whatever he does at work, “more value
addition” must be done.

(B) In this situation more weight to work is brining an imbalance to system

of work-life balancing. So, one has to either try to strike a balance or
“add more value” to your life.

1) Change priorities- Resort only in few situations

2) Add value.

3) Play with Weights.

This is your game and one has to find his own rules, at the same
time be flexible enough to keep inventing his own rules. But one very
important thing I would like to share is that results in case of work are
proportional to the efforts you put in, but it is not the same in case of life.
You can derive disproportionate benefits (or sorrow) by your own
efforts. This is where a professional approach is required.
“Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open”–
Sir James Dewar. Keep your mind open to find new ways of playing in work-life
balancing.
 Work side requires lot of weight and it would be perceived as the same
weight. Life side requires a totally different approach all together. Small
weights in life can carry lot of perceived weight. To make use of this leverage
one’s understanding of self, family, friends, peers becomes very important.

TO KNOW SOME IMPEDIMENTS IN LIFE THAT COME IN THE WAY OF

PLANNING & IMPLEMENTING.

 It is easy to break new year resolutions, so are our plans towards our own
life. We tend to postpone things as we take ourselves our families for
granted. All our achievements must spring from the first step of private
victory our public victories must not be at the cost of our private lost battles.
Remember that you life is important.

 We need to have a paradigm shift in the way we look at ourselves. We need

to become preventive rather than curative. A simple thing like not keeping
up the promise of accompanying a child to a park is more grievous than a
sword cut to that little kid, do we understand that ?

 All of us might have come across Stephen Covey’s 7 habits, that reminded
me of a Panchatantra Story where one person tried to be deceptive and his
friend could make out his real colour when they came across a lion. Live a
natural life and not a deceptive one.

 According to Erich Fromm

“Today we come across an individual who behaves like an automaton,
who does not know or understand himself, and the only person that he
knows is the person that he is supposed to be, who is meaning less chatter
has replaced commutative speech, who’s synthetic smile has replaced a
genuine laughter, and who sends of dull despair has taken the place of
genuine pain. Statements may be said concerning this individual, one is that
he suffers from the defects of spontaneity and individuality which may seen
 to be incurable. At the same time it may be said of him he does not differ
essentially from the millions of the rest of us who walk upon this earth”.

We should transform ourselves from being manipulative, deceptive, or

using techniques to get other people to like us. To internalizing of things
that we lack, not because others feel it but because you yourself felt the
need.

 Over a period of time, we do more of the same. We let work take over our
lives, not because we are greedy or selfish. But because we are not greedy or
selfish enough in the right ways, we do not practice the basics of self care,
which we need to.

 Most of us never ease up. We live as if a human being could be a windup

toy. Ask me to do the job, and whatever it is, I will get it done. Save the
hardest tasks for me. Send me to the heights to make the deals. I will deliver
goods without fail. I will meet my deadlines. What ever needs to get done, I
will get it done.
After all this, some where it just does not work, what goes wrong ? ask
yourself.

 What any family need is not material possession but emotional & spiritual
things – which we are unable to give. Please do realize the same.

 We always worked towards a challenge. There is that “never enough”

Syndrome. We become addicted to achieving the next goal and the next, and
the one after that.

 Oscar Wilde once said that there are two tragedies in life : one is to be
unsuccessful the other is to be successful. He is right, being successful brings
its own thorns while balancing work and life.
 There’s an old Chinese saying to that effect that happiness is having
something to do, someone to love and something to hope for. Do we spent
time loving or hoping ? or all our efforts towards material pursuit.

 Work Load

 Tired ???

 Financial - Account

 Uncontrollable, Uncertain Issues, Procrastination leading to anxiety.

 Lack of Motivation
 Unable to Delegate
 Rate Race Computation
 Family - Do Not understand
 Social Commitments
 Does family problems affect work ???
Does work problems affect life ???
 Stress

 Time Management - LT, MT, ST plans

Good at postponement

FEW POINTERS TO WORK-LIFE BALANCING

 Balancing is a must in life whether one recognizes the importance of it or
not.

 Balancing is a unique concept, which is quite individualistic in life.

 Time management, stress management, keeping oneself fit means both
physically & emotionally is very important.

 Learn the art of delegation both in life and work in order to excel in both.

 Learn the art of listening this goes a long way in improving relationships.

 Know the difference between what is important & what is urgent.

 Know the difference between controllable and uncontrollable. Prayer goes

like this “Lord give me the courage to change the things which can and
ought to be changed the serenity to accept the things which cannot be
changed, and the wisdom to know the difference”.

 Involve yourself as told in Karma Yoga, Live like King, perform duties like a
Saint as water on the lotus leaves.

 Rejoice the joy of working as under Fish Philosophy. Do not postpone your
joy, do not live in blind spots.

 As per the Cheese Philosophy nothing is permanent but change become

more adaptive.

 Lean management speaks on “muda” (waste) something that do not add

value to the end customer. There are lots of muda in our daily lives, try to
remove them. Habit Die-hard but nothing is impossible.

 As per Dog’s Logic, do not become hypocrites, do not try to find joy by /
thru Cigarettes, drinks or drugs. Joy is no where else but within us.
 Life deserves attention, whoever you are, what ever you are, wherever you
are. Remember that anybody and everybody need to bring in quality in life.

 None of our energies are used to the maximum extent. Untapped energies
are waiting so that we tap the same.
 At a particular point of time, a set of people are your customers, i.e., your
internal customers, do every possible conceivable thing to add value to your
internal customers. Do not do any thing to your external customers at that
point of time.

 You family is your internal customer at home. Do every thing to keep these
customers happy. At this very point, if you look at your office files, your
keeping your external customers (that is Boss) happy at the cost of your
internal customers, which is not advisable. This will surely remind anybody
about moment of truth and also Mc Donald’s famous saying “we take care
of our internal customers and they inturn take care of our external
customers.

 Make an attempt to be organized in life. Researchers show that on an

average every day 80% people spends 20 minutes in searching a file, a
mobile a key chain……
 Enjoy small things in life could be a flower, bird, butterfly or just anything.

 Look life as a challenge .

 Don’t procastinate. Don’t spend for your yesterday’s.

 Yesterday is but a dream

 Tomorrow is only a vision

 But today well lived makes

 Every yesterday a dream of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.

 Enjoy work as well as enjoy life, do not carry your work to home.

 Cherish responsibilities, do not avoid it.

 Budget Money

 Time Plan well - ST, MT, LT

 Vacation Twice a year

 Self Analysis - SWOT

 U’R work as a sub-system

 Remove word “Impossible” “I Can’t” from your life dictionary. Do not end
up taking everything on your shoulder sometimes U will have to say I
Cannot.

 Do what U say

 Cultivate Sense of Humour

 Be Energetic

 Learn from your mistakes as well as others

 Be confident. Believe your self

 Good Listener

 Continuos Learning

 Carry smile with U

 Read good books listen to great people - Go for the change

 Go for Challenges. Be optimistic

 CONCLUSION
On identification of the factors determining QL (Quality of life), one have to
examine the strengths & weakness. QL is as important as QWL. Both
contributes towards WLB (Work-life balancing).

Work-life balancing is a journey throughout life. Both individuals and

organisations will face these key challenges of work-life balance.
simultaneously, in India and abroad, there seem to be organisations trying
to move from traditional organizational values towards more progressive
valves supporting balance.

Perhaps we as HR professionals could be the community of Balance compions

or advocates, who can pursue further the wisdom and knowledge of
work-life balance and simultaneously, create constructive changes in
everybody’s lives as well as organisations.
 REFERENCES

---- Work Life Balance

Business Today, Anniversary Issue, Jan 21, 2001

---- When every thing is not half enough (case study)

Harvard Business Review, March April 2000

---- Work enjoyment and progress

Dr. R. L. Kashyap,
Sri. Aurobindo Kapali Sastry
Institute of Vedic culture, 2003

---- Balancing Acts

Barbara A. Glanz
Dear Borne trade publishing, 2003

---- Fish Tales

Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen
Harry Paul, Philips Strand
Hodder mobius, 2002

---- You can win

Shiv Khera
Macmillan, 2004

---- Seven Habits of highly effective people

Stephen Covey

---- Oh! Mind relax please

Swami Sukhabodananda

---- Bhagvath Geeta

Holy Book
 WORK-LIFE BALANCING

A Myth or a reality ?

ABSTRACT

People are the real capital of an organisation and are rightly called as “Human capital”,
only capital that differentiates a successful firm from unsuccessful. Human being as any
other resources are not without family, thoughts, aspirations, status, desire, frustration,
dreams, selfishness, passion, list goes on and on. There has come a time when a topic so
interesting and challenging needs to be researched, reviewed on and implemented in the
companies. It is yet in its infancy stage and we are a long way to go. Although way back
Bhagavath Geeta in Karma Yoga does speak on this topic.

“Do not confuse work for life both are not the same”, Hilery Road Ham Clinton.

The Concept of work life balancing is whether an individual has life outside work. It
revolves around whether an individual plans for both work as well as life so as to enjoy
& excel both work as well as life.

A study would be made to find out

How one views work & life ?

 Relationship between them

 How to plan for both work & life so as to excel & enjoy in both

How to balance work & life

 What should ones priorities be?

 Where should the hinge (of See saw called as work Life) be ?

How often should it be moved ?

 How to play with weights

 To know some impediments in life that come in the way of planning

In nutshell, the study attempts as to how to bring in the concepts of Karma Yoga, Fish
Philosophy, Lean Management etc in our daily lives.

In this direction an earnest attempt as been made to conduct a survey to study how
people are juggling with work life balance and based on the analysis done with the
survey outcomes, suitable recommendations would be put forth so as to get better at
“work-life balancing”.
References

---- Work Life Balance

Business Today, Anniversary Issue, Jan 21, 2001

---- When every thing is not half enough (case study)

Harvard Business Review, March April 2000

---- Work enjoyment and progress

Dr. R. L. Kashyap,
Sri. Aurobindo Kapali Sastry Institute of Vedic
culture, 2003

---- Balancing Acts

Barbara A. Glanz
Dear Borne trade publishing, 2003

---- Fish Tales

Stephen C. Lundin, John Christensen
Harry Paul, Philips Strand
Hodder mobius, 2002

---- You can win

Shiv Khera
Macmillan, 2004

---- Seven Habits of highly effective people

Stephen Covey

---- Seven Habits of highly effective families

Stephen Covey

---- Oh! Mind relax please

Swami Sukhabodananda

---- Bhagvath Geeta

Holy Book