Everybody has heard about work-life balance and how important it is but I feel that it is a bit flawed concept and needs a lot of re-thinking.
Working in 2 startups and maintaining the work-life balance is almost impossible and yet I was adamant about finding it (probably the reason why there was no newsletter last week) but eventually all my efforts failed and that’s when I came across work-life integration.
What’s the difference, you ask? Work-life balance is focused on keeping your work life and your personal life separate but equal, whereas work-life integration is centered on the belief that there is no distinction between the two, and that both must coexist in harmony. This works best when you are starting a company or working in startups, especially if you are working remotely. Loving what you do is of utmost importance, and luckily enough, I found these two jobs on time. When you love what you do and love the people in the company, you don’t mind working at an odd hour or preparing a document when you’re hanging out with your friends or attending a small meeting when you are out. The only downside I can see to this is you carrying your laptop everywhere. (remember Hritik Roshan in ZNMD?😗)
Most of the leaders or the founding team in a startup share a great vibe and love spending time together, and they just include their work in it. They don’t completely draw a distinction between their work time and private time but let both exist in harmony. From what I have seen working closely with the founders at Urzza, I can confirm that when you are starting a company, you have to look for talented co-founders, but most importantly, you have to make sure you have an amazing vibe with them to integrate your lives with the work and get things done. And from what I can imagine, even the VP and Partner at Qubit Capital have incorporated this work-life integration, maybe without even knowing about it.
Special mention to Abhinaya at Urzza for actually making me realize how you can make this possible, even without him knowing about it. (I can see your smile and know your thoughts after reading this😂)
Ultimately, work-life balance and work-life integration are means of achieving an equilibrium between your personal and professional life, but how you achieve it is the key difference. Rather than drawing lines between your work and personal life, try finding how you can make them coexist. The biggest challenge in achieving it is finding the people with whom you can do it, but once you do, you’ll start appreciating how awesome work-life integration is. I mean, hanging out and working with your friends, isn’t that the dream?
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Quote of the week✍️
"Our job is improving the quality of life, not just delaying death." - Robin Williams
Good Concept!!! Instead of building a career, build a life where career, relationships and health thrives!!
Great post!