Let's talk about work life balance

The comments made by the L&T Chairman Mr. Subramanyam about work-life balance has sparked a rage on the internet. On one end there are fiery debates made about the way work-life balance is treated in India and on the other end, netizens are digging out some controversial statements made by business legends in the past on this. Some are happy that finally there is a discourse on a topic that is mostly brushed under the carpet, while some have used this incident as an opportunity to vent about the toxic work culture in their organization.

What is this work-life balance all about? In simple terms, work-life balance refers to the concept of allocating sufficient amount of time to professional and personal commitments without getting mentally drained. It refers to the aspect of drawing a healthy line between work and life without letting the former overwhelm us.

You might ask why this concept of work life balance has come into the picture now and not a few years ago. The answer to this lies in the three aspects of change that have taken place in the work culture. 

The first aspect is the nature of work. In the past, work was restrained to the boundaries of work timings and had no scope of entering our personal space. But today, our lives have become more digitally intertwined which led to work taking out maximum of our personal time. 

The second aspect is the commuting time and the modes of commuting to the workplace. Previously, it was easier to travel long distances due to lack of congestion on the roads. The environment was supportive too. But now, due to bad roads, rampant increase in traffic and roadblocks, the to and fro is getting really exhausting. Due to this, a person is not able to focus on anything else once they are back home. 

The third aspect is the expansion and diversification of work. Today, companies across the globe partner with each other to produce innovative solutions by leveraging each other's expertise to the maximum. In order to achieve this, employees have to interact with clients across the globe- with clients living at different time zones. This has led to a major disruption in the sleep cycle of these employees and is taking a toll on their health.

Due to these significant changes in the work culture, the concept of work-life balance came into picture- to ensure that we are not getting burnt out and are utilizing our potential to the fullest.

Work-life balance has revolutionized the world with countries passing laws to ensure that employee rights are protected. Right to disconnect, fixed work schedules and pay for overtime have made work environments less toxic and have cultivated a positive environment. But sadly, this isn't the case in India as none of these provisions are available.

We Indians somehow have built this mindset that greater number of hours we put into a task, the better we are performing it. We are valued as an asset to our company when we work for long hours beyond our office timings and are looked down when we leave early. The key logic that a lot of companies are missing here is the fact that it is always quality over quantity and not the other way round. We might end up spending hours trying to resolve a simple problem whenever we are exhausted because our brain can't function to its full capacity after a certain period of time. We need to give it a break to refresh and unwind. The lack of this time is leading to an unhealthy work life. We end up working for hours together with no real progress.

When a study was done on how work-life balance is treated in India, the facts that emerged were shocking. Indian employees work for 48-50 hours a week, and 83% Indian employees have experienced burnout in their workplace. This is far higher in comparison to other countries and these statistics are pretty concerning. While other countries are looking to reduce 5-day work week to a 4-day work week, our country's businessmen are looking at increasing 5 days to 6-day work week and 6 days to 7-day work week which is absolutely unhealthy.

Does that mean achieving work life balance in India is absolutely impossible? Well, things are not going to change until there is a change at the top level. Mr. Anand Mahindra had mentioned in one of his recent interactions that whenever top businessmen talk about bringing reforms, let it start from a top-down approach instead of a bottom-top approach. When these individuals actually work for long durations under the conditions normal people are facing and achieve the required output, only then should it be implemented in companies. As of now, only time will tell whether the Indian conglomerates are going to implement this top-down approach and make their employees life easier.

Can't we do anything from our end to make things better? The first most important thing to do is to start saying NO if you aren't available. A lot of times we end up doing things way beyond our requirement when it is not necessary. We should draw our lines and firmly stick to them. We might feel bad initially for doing that, but in such scenarios, remember that you are doing it for your sanity.

Work-life balance is a pretty sensitive concept, and you can't pigeonhole it. For different people this term means different things. The employees might give paramount importance to quality time with family, their personal interests and hobbies. The business tycoons might give paramount importance to working because of the lump amounts of profits they earn. The problem arises when these tycoons pressure employees to work overtime under the guise of "more work, more output" and "contributing to the nation's growth," forcing them to prioritize company goals over their own. This leads to poor work-life balance.

A lot of these hi-fi individuals live under this assumption that there is no such concept of work-life balance because when you love the work that you do, it becomes your life, and you don't have to balance it. You will just go with the flow without any complaints. I feel this is a flawed way of looking at it because not everyone likes their work, and they have to do it because of some compulsion or commitments. Even if someone does like their work a lot, they too won't like to sit on the same task for the whole day without a break since it leads to monotony. This monotony will slowly lead to boredom since there is no novelty and this slowly leads to losing interest in work. 

A lot of times, one starts to presume that work-life balance simply means making the work environment better and more efficient, allowing it to take center stage. But remember this: work-life balance is about improving one's life outside the work environment—through travel, personal growth, etc.—in a way that prevents exhaustion. One’s life should always take precedence, with work being just one part of it. Never let work rob you of the serenity that defines your life.

                        - Anusha Sridhar