Jeff Bezos from Amazon thinks it is
How many hours a day do you spend at work, and how much time do you spend with your family, friends, partner, and yourself? Maybe some people spend more time than others, and no matter how much you try to spend time with everyone, you can’t. Therefore, it is only natural to ask ourselves: Is work-life balance a myth? The creator of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, says that it is best to stop trying to balance your life. Instead, start seeing both parts as one, as part of the same ecosystem.
And there is a good reason. Bezos believes that the balance between personal life and working life does not exist. He has not found it yet, and he considers it to be a myth. Nevertheless, this situation doesn’t worry him, he tries to fully enjoy the moments he spends at home to get happy to work.
The founder of Amazon believes that if he is happy at home, he will come back to work with more energy, and if he is happy at work, he will return home with lots of energy. The entrepreneur suggests that this is a premise that employees should apply, especially when there is frustration and stress because they cannot have a social life outside the workspaces, at least not as desired.
“This work-life harmony thing is what I try to teach young employees and senior executives at Amazon too. But especially the people coming in,” he said. “I get asked about work-life balance all the time. And my view is, that’s a debilitating phrase because it implies there’s a strict trade-off.”
Like every successful entrepreneur, he has a daily routine. He goes to bed early and wakes up early. This way he gets enough sleep and likes to exercise. He likes to take his time in the morning to have breakfast with his family. He starts with the most important meetings, and he takes breaks if he is feeling tired.
Bezos’s message is clear: It’s about enjoying everything you do, whatever your activity is. So, more than a balance, he looks at it as a circle. He suggests that the relationship between work and personal life should be reciprocal and that we shouldn’t compartmentalize them into two competing time constraints.
What do you think? Is work-life balance a myth?
4 Comments
What a great post! It actually makes a lot of sense because sometimes trying to get that balance only adds stress and take the focus away on both social and laboral matters.
Thank you!