Adulting 101: Corporate Work/Life Balance

Four steps to figuring it out in 2021

Image by Colton Sturgeon

The workforce is kinda weird right now, right? At least here in the U.S., we’ve got millions unemployed and millions of open positions. Restaurants and employers are offering “huge” signing bonuses and higher wages than before. And people are still quitting in droves despite it all. We’re seeing people flip career paths entirely. Leaving their cozy corporate jobs for passion projects. Maybe even realizing the office politics just aren’t worth the hassle. Hopefully, in all the chaos, there are some signs of healthier work/life balances. It all certainly feels like a turning point. Not a huge turn, mind you, but while we slowly veer into whatever new normal this is, here are four tips to help you figure it all out if you’re in an office environment.

1) Time & Flexibility

Maybe the most obvious, but most important. What is your time worth to you? How do you prefer to spend that time? A lot of us want more flexibility these days (I know I do). Flexibility affords us a little taste of freedom. A long lunch to go to the gym or calling it a day at 4:30 to go to your daughter’s soccer game. For most of us, that doesn’t sound too wild. For some corporations, however, that’s damn near scandalous. For years, companies have been paying you for your time. When you’re on the clock, they own you. That makes this new wave of remote work and flexible schedules terrifying for corporations, and I kind of understand it. I don’t support it, but I understand it. We need to be judged for the work we do, not the time our asses are sitting in a rollie chair. Luckily, a lot of companies are coming around to this more progressive way of thinking. So, if you’re out there on the job hunt, have these conversations early. Be upfront about your expectations, hours, and how you’d like to spend them. For all our sakes though, don’t abuse it. This could turn into a “this is why we can’t have nice things” issue and I don’t want to give up my mid-day yoga.

2) Independence

So, flexibility is pretty great. But maybe you need even more independence. You’re tired of office politics altogether and over rotating pdfs for your boss (too real?). You just want to work for yourself. Luckily, that’s also becoming easier than ever. With all the craziness we’ve endured in the last year and a half (at the time of writing) lot of positions are going from full remote to contract positions, or even to full freelance positions. This might be the option for you.

3) Turning Off

Turning off can be hard. I know it certainly is for me. I’ve got my email, work chat, all of it, directly on my phone for easy access. My wife absolutely has yelled at me for answering emails late at night (Okay, I know it’s a habit, but we’ve all got room to grow right?). Obviously, this can’t be done for every profession, but for the bulk of us, turn it off. Turn off those emails and chats. You can call them back tomorrow. It’s such a small thing, but it goes so far in maintaining that balance. This is becoming more and more common, to the extent of some states putting laws in place to persuade your offices from contacting you after hours. Let’s make it standard practice, for all our sakes.

4) Setting Boundaries

Just like after-hours, if I am on vacation, do not bother me. It’s so important to set these boundaries early and stick to them. There will always be more to do, another email, another follow-up, but putting lines in the sand will go a long way for your balance and fending off any burnout. If you’re mentally just done from constantly working and worrying about these things, you’re going to be far less productive in your day-to-day work. That doesn’t help you or your office.

It’s rare that we go through a cultural change in the workforce that allows us to grab a point or two toward employee health. Not just mental but physical over the long term. I realize these points may not apply to everyone or that some of you are hustling at an 80+ hour week for your own reasons. But for those of us in this corporate world, let’s get some time back for the important things in life. A little more time with our friends and family, fully focused on the present.