Work Life Balance, Post-CoVid Style by Dr. Michele Fleming

As life is showing signs of normalcy again, we have an urgent and unique opportunity:  to intentionally redesign our work life balance.  Balance might be a fallacy, or a fantasy, because it seems we’re always falling off the teeter totter.  Weave seems like a better metaphor, because work seems to weave itself in and out of our “life” space.  As we are in the final season of hitting the pause button, we have a chance to consider not just how are we spending our time, but how are we spending our life? 

As an executive coach, I get the rare opportunity to work with business and ministry leaders from all different industries and in communities across America.  And this conversation is happening everywhere:  what will it look like to return to the office and to my “normal busy” lifestyle?”  But the important question really is, can we pause long enough to weave God’s calling into our life?  And does it include spending more time at the office? 

Well, right now it might be the home office.  Market research firm Forrester reports that 60% of companies are planning to offer a hybrid model – some days in the office, some days at home.  Another 10% are already fully remote and plan to stay that way.  For some, returning to the office might is a much needed break from the confines of living and working in a small crowded, or isolated, space.  And for others, working from home provides an opportunity to catch that one moment with a teenage son or daughter, or not to miss the first steps of a growing infant. 

But for all of us, remote working has created a time-shift about what it means to be a working professional with a life.  It’s become a part of our culture.  We have the option to live more of the life-weave.  To practice boundaries about when it’s time to work, and when it’s time to live.  To slow down and consider our legacy – who do you want to impact and how? 

Being a leader means driving performance, but it also means connecting through relationships.  How often do we prioritize the time to connect to those closest to us? Or to reach out and build up relationships that might be lacking?  Jesus had time to sit and talk.  He wasn’t rushing out the door, he was inviting himself in for dinner.  His life’s work included the time to teach and exhort his inner circle, his family of disciplines. 

Who’s in your inner circle? Do you intentionally leave space in your schedule to connect?  Now is the time to design our life-weave.  Our life’s calling.  Our life-work balance.

Dr. Michele Fleming is an executive coach and leadership expert.  She uses Dr. Townsend’s Model of Growth to help leaders in all walks of life discover what is holding them back.  Learn more at www.drmichelefleming.com or mf@drmichelefleming.com

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