As the sun sets on 2022, I’d like to take a moment to reflect on what this year has held for my blog and podcast A Fine Balance.
On the blog
I’ve had the pleasure and privilege of featuring four full-length stories in my “Work-Life Balance Profiles” series this year. Each one of these articles was based on an in-depth interview that I conducted in private. Of these, one (Adunola) decided to keep her identity concealed.
Interestingly, and totally coincidentally, the first three out of these four subjects all assigned a work:life ratio value of 50:50. This was despite them all committing to different working patterns, and coming from diverse professional, cultural, and demographic backgrounds:
- Adunola exposed a controversial tendency towards multitasking, claiming that through blending her self-employed work and childcare commitments, she has found her “perfect 50:50 balance”. She also touched on how fundamental being financially independent within her marriage is to her sense of balance.
- Katherine Brownstein’s story focussed on the work-life balance challenges of working in the legal profession. She also shared some impressive and inspiring tricks to working efficiently and building an equal split of “work” in a marriage. Her perspective of contentment at working ‘as a means to an end’ was a first on this blog, and prompted lots of discussion.
- Julia Elmer defied mathematical logic, maintaining that she possesses a 50:50 work:life ratio whilst working full-time. Her story touched on the impact that loving your job has on your sense of balance, and championed the progress that has been made on flexible working throughout her career.
What these three subjects also all had in common was that they described feeling content with their sense of balance. Which got me questioning whether people generally perceive a 50:50 split to indicate a “perfect” balance, and why?
My fourth interviewee, Gilles Dahan, offered a very different outlook, unapologetically assigning an average work:life ratio of 80:20, whilst expressing a similar degree of contentment with his balance.
Which really goes to show that a person’s perception of their optimum work:life ratio is wholly subjective. And it also challenges the stereotype that improving your work-life balance involves “working” less, and “living” more.
On the podcast
I had great pleasure in 2022 to record follow-up interviews on the podcast with three people that I’d previously featured on the blog: Sarah, Laurie, and Tom.
And I pursued my first collaboration, recording a bonus podcast episode with work-life balance expert Annabel Jeffcoate, entitled: “How to Improve Your Work-Life Balance”.
I have some exciting things in the pipeline for the podcast in 2023, so lots more conversations to look forward to.
Lessons I’ve learned from blogging and podcasting in 2022
I’ve had far less time than in previous years to spend writing blog posts and recording podcasts. As the grip of the Covid pandemic gradually loosened over the course of the year, my life steadily returned to its usual busyness. Covid easing also had a direct impact on my job in the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce, so securing and starting a new role absorbed much of my spare capacity.
The benefit of not having the space and time to write blog posts and record podcast episodes has been that I’ve had much more time to reflect and consolidate my thoughts on the conversations that ‘A Fine Balance’ has created.
Over the summer, I published a blog post citing a quote that I came across in my holiday reading by Leonardo Da Vinci. The writer was pointing to Da Vinci’s style of working, which unleashed brilliance by allowing regular breaks for daydreaming. I took inspiration from that to indulge in some daydreaming and let my thoughts settle.
The most fundamental overarching reflection that landed for me this year is that finding a balance matters.
This feels like a reflection almost too obvious and simplistic to mention, but I think it’s one worth noting.
These days, we have the juxtaposed benefit/disadvantage of having the luxury/necessity to consider how we balance work with everything else in life (call it work-life balance or something else). This became clear to me after a conversation I had with my 94-year-old great-uncle, who could not relate to today’s concept of work-life balance in the context of his working life, and that of his father before him.
Our 24/7 technology means that individuals today need to make a conscious decision about when they will and will not work. And we pay a price for the choices that we make, whichever side of the work:life ratio we choose to invest more into.
I’ve observed time and again how lacking a sense of balance has a detrimental impact on a person’s physical and mental health. So, it matters to do what you can to pursue a balance that is right for you.
But what’s the best way to do that?
How to find a balance that is right for you
Here’s where you might think I’m about to reveal that I’ve figured out a magic formula for obtaining an ideal work-life balance. You’d be wrong. Sort of.
I can’t claim to be an expert on this subject; there are many far more learned and experienced people out there that can advise on this subject. However, having spent the past few years listening to a broad range of people share their personal experiences of how they pursue a balance between work and everything else in life, and the reasons behind their choices, I am developing conclusions of my most pertinent observations and lessons learned.
This is still a work in progress, and I’ll be sharing more in the new year. Keep an eye on my website www. a-fine-balance.com for updates.
And finally, speaking of my website, I look forward to launching its refreshed layout in the new year too. This will display my blog posts in a more structured and easy to navigate format, which I hope will become a useful for resource for readers from all backgrounds and with varying interests.
So, that just about rounds off my 2022 reflections, with clearly lots to build on in 2023.
Thank you to everyone that has participated in, read, listened, and engaged with the blog and podcast in 2022. I wish you all a happy, healthy and fulfilling pursuit of balance in the year to come.
Dalya x