Work-life balance is nonsense - you can’t have it all!
Work-life balance is nonsense - you can’t have it all - says a well known contemporary “philosopher of everyday life” Alain de Botton in his presentation: A kinder, gentler philosophy of success. And I agree with him. We are all looking to achieve that balance, and there seems to be plenty of self-help books, information and help form professionals. And in a typical western tradition “we can fix it with a technique/technology” there is even an iPhone app “CrunchTime” claiming that it can “make it possible to balance your life” - how silly is that?
I have lots of respect to Dr. Stephen Covey’s work, and… not surprisingly he has a simple answer - is not it what we are looking for?
Are we trying to achieve the impossible, and let some people to cash in on our needs? Are we honest enough to ourselves and others, claiming that we’ve got it all - as this surely marks our personal success?
It is possible of course to work 4hrs a week… if you are a Tim Ferris. By the way, I would really liked to see his weekly diary, with listing of 4-hours allocated to “work”.
And how about the rest of us? We are leaving in society where it is virtually/practically impossible to work less, and maintaining this society by chasing ever growing possession/status goals.
What’s wrong with giving something up to focus on something else? I am sure you can come up with many examples of great people, who have done exactly that, for a benefit to themselves and society alike.
