The Better Way to Evaluate Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance. In an era where mental health has received an exponential amount of care and attention, “work-life balance” is a concept that you’ll hear about constantly in professional settings. You’ll see it listed as a competitive advantage on a company’s website as they talk about their culture. You may receive it as a question from a prospect when you’re looking to hire. Some people may phrase the concept more as a question: “Are you working to live, or are you living to work?” We often see an emphasis on ensuring that work doesn’t impede on time off the clock, and that focusing on our personal lives is essential. 

But what if I told you that there is another important side to this story? What if I told you that fully investing yourself in your work can make your personal time more fulfilling? At Lucid Private Offices, we believe that work is self-actualizing. We believe that in work, it is possible to experience a sense of purpose and accomplishment, which benefits not only your professional life but also your overall well-being.

You get out what you put in

A trail to the summit of the camp where I helped lead retreats

I worked in ministry for more than 10 years, and one consistent adage we emphasized to retreatants was that “you will get out of this experience what you put in.” For a tepid middle-schooler in this scenario, a campground might be the last place he or she may want to spend a weekend, especially when separated from technology. There are students who didn’t give such a retreat a chance at all, and they returned home feeling the experience was a waste of time. But there were also students who really invested into the weekend. They made friends, they had fun, and they went home better and happier people for it. 

This applies in so many aspects of our lives. If you go to the gym without direction or a goal, you’ll only see a fraction of the benefit (and you may stop going after your first or second visit). If you attend a networking event with the mindset of leaving as early as possible, you may miss out on connections that can genuinely change your professional life. This same principle applies to our work. When we fully engage with our job, our tasks, and our responsibilities, we may even be able to tap into Optimal Work, which can completely change your morale and relationship with work. We can go from, “Is it 5 o’ clock yet” to “There just isn’t enough time in the day.” We want to become experts in our craft and we become proud of what we do. And whether the subject at hand is a passion project or the livelihood for your or your family, there are few things that top the importance of investing completely in these areas.

Working with enthusiasm

"You start pretending to have fun, you might even have a little by accident.” Alfred Pennyworth, The Dark Knight

Even in the best careers, there are times where the day-to-day can start to feel like a tedious grind. That mindset, once it takes hold, can be hard to shake. Put simply, work for the sake of work isn’t very inspiring. However, there are a number of different ways to mentally redirect the outcome of your work so you can better visualize how you are positively affecting other people.

As mentioned before (and I wholeheartedly recommend you look into it), Optimal Work can help you reframe even the most tedious tasks into small moments of focus and joy. In summary, in working optimally, you will find that there is opportunity present in every challenge, and there is someone (or a lot of people) that you are helping by tackling that challenge. By reframing your mind to focus on who you will be benefiting in your work, you may find more of a drive to not just complete the task, but to do it well. When I feel like I’m in a rut, I think of what my teammates will say about me to each other or my successor whenever it would be time for me to move onto the next job. Am I reliable? Am I joyful in my work? Am I skillful? Those are all in scope of my control, and it begins with enthusiasm.

The perfect workspace

My first impression of a Lucid Private Offices workspace

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention how working in an environment that you love can make all the difference in your attitude towards work. Our founder, Flip Howard, once made a comparison that involved drinking a margarita in a tanning chair. Close your eyes and imagine drinking a margarita on the shore of a beautiful private island with clear skies and a slight breeze. Now, imagine doing the same at a cheap motel swimming pool. You’re doing the exact same activity, but there’s one big difference: your environment.

Our environment and how we present ourselves to that environment serves as a reflection of how we feel about what we’re doing. If we work in our pajamas at a desk in our bedroom, we may be comfortable, but we will also likely find it much more tempting to mentally disconnect from our work. If we dress professionally and enter a stimulating environment to do our work, we can’t help but feel drawn into the part. 

When I first stepped into the Lucid Private Offices at Las Colinas for my initial interview, I was floored at how beautiful the space was. My first impression told me immediately that I wanted to be able to work in an office like that. Tons of natural light, beautiful furniture, impressive wall art and decor, and gorgeous conference rooms were immediately visible when I stepped off the elevator. This, compared to working from home? Sure, working from home has the convenience factor, but I feel there’s incredible importance in mentally leaving “home” at home while you’re working. In doing so, we’ll be much better able to focus on our family or other passions because we’re able to physically leave work. And what better place to do so than a place that makes you want to go to work.

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Work-life balance doesn’t always have to measure how a job respects personal time. Yes, an employer will stand out (and should stand out) for offering generous parental leave, vacation time, and education opportunities. But a healthy work-life balance is largely dependent on how we approach work. Are we doing what we need to do to ensure that when we are doing work, we know who we’re benefiting? Are we investing fully and working enthusiastically? And are we doing work in an environment that fosters productivity and allows us to return home proud of the work we’ve done? I know that working at Lucid Private Offices helps in that regard. You should consider it too.