There are countless of articles and resources out there on “how to improve your work-life balance”. In the last many years, I actually cringe when I hear “work-life balance”. There’s just life. I didn’t use to think that way, though.
I see myself bringing “work-related” things to my personal life: from using Scrum and Agile practices in my own life to leveraging my product and software developer skills to my hobbies. I also bring my personal life experiences to my work.
If I’m in a work situation and I’m interacting with a co-worker who I know share similar passions with me (maybe motorcycles and racing or music), why not bring that part of my “personal life” to my “work life”? We can freely draw analogies from things that light us up and bring us closer to a shared understanding of the business context at hand.
If I’m in a personal situation where things seem to be going out of whack, why not bring in Scrum practices that can help me expose my challenges, see through them clearly, identify ways to tackle them, and stay focused? If I see things in my life I could make better through software, why not do that? If the answer to that last one is “well, because that’d feel like work”, it’d make me believe I don’t like my work. Since I do love the work I do, it’s not “just my work”, it’s actually something I enjoy as I live my life.
There’s a quote out there that goes somewhat like “craft a life you don’t need to escape from”. The practice of writing up annual reviews has been helping me over the years to make sure I “live the life I love, love the life I live”.
In closing, I’ll drop this quote I got from Headspace:
Mindfulness reminds us that any separation in life is artificial. Work-life, home-life, social-life… there is just life. This. Here. Now.
Claudio Lassala's Blog 