A Light Bulb Moment: Achieving Work/Life Balance
For most of history, daily working hours were limited by the sun to an average of 12, which meant that people would spend the remainder of their hours in their homes with their families, socializing, or sleeping. And then came electricity, and with it, the seemingly innocent and innocuous light bulb; an object that few would consider being the culprit of many modern struggles. With electric light, factories could operate 24 hours a day. As darkness was no longer an excuse, employers demanded more and more of their employees' time. Working hours grew long and family and social interaction suffered. Workers would often suffer exhaustion, ill-health or even premature death from overwork.
Bad news bombards us daily. Many polls and studies have shown that the optimism of people is eroding, being steadily overtaken by a sense of hopelessness. This phenomenon is not unique to any region or culture, but seems to be universal in scope. Of course, many factors are at play, but one that is quite prevalent in our modern age is an imbalance between work and personal time. How did this come to be?
Until the last couple of centuries, the work that employed most of humanity was physical in nature. People would and cultivate crops with picks and hoes, and cut trees with axes and saws for firewood and timber. Some would work with wood or stone to build all manner of structures. Over time, a whole host of ingenious tools were invented to make certain tasks less difficult, and domesticated animals were used for heavier tasks. However, anyone who has ever plowed a field behind a team of oxen can attest that is still hard labor!
Just providing the basics of food and shelter required a great deal of effort, not to mention some of the greatest feats of engineering such as China's Great Wall or the Pyramids of Egypt. Human beings have achieved a great deal through hard work. However, in the whole field of human endeavor, one factor has remained common to almost every task, until very recently.
Daylight.
For most of history, daily working hours were limited by the sun to an average of 12, which meant people would spend the remainder of their hours in their homes, with their families, socializing or sleeping.
All that began to change with the "Industrial Revolution". Mechanization of farming meant more could be done by fewer people. Factories in the cities required laborers and thus people migrated from the country to fill those jobs. Production was mostly indoors, so more days could be productive. However, most work still had to be done during the daylight hours, since artificial light was limited and costly.
And then came electricity, and with it, the seemingly innocent and innocuous light bulb, an object that few would consider being the culprit of many modern struggles. With electric light, factories could operate 24 hours a day.
As darkness was no longer an excuse, employers would demand more and more of their employees' time. Working hours grew long and family and social interaction suffered. Workers would often suffer exhaustion, ill health or even premature death from overwork.
In more recent times, working conditions have generally improved throughout much of the industrialized world. Modern automation and robotics have revolutionized manufacturing. Many jobs have moved from the factory floor to the office tower.
Yet, with all the changes to the modern workplace, many still struggle to achieve a balance between time spent at work and personal time. In addition to 24 hour light, the advent of 24 hour instant communication has led many workers to feel obligated to take work related calls and emails after hours or while on holiday.
In the highly competitive global marketplace, businesses must make the most of the talent they employ. Excessive employer demand is one factor, but self imposed overwork is also an issue factor. Many are driven by personal ambition, and work performance is often seen as a metric of personal worth. Non-work-related needs and goals are seen as secondary. However, the employee who is always "on fire" inevitably WILL burn out, leading to possible physical or mental illness, and costly downtime. The hurt will be felt by the employer, the employee, his or her family and society as a whole.
Hard work and diligence are indeed qualities that are to be praised and valued, but there must also be time set aside for rest and recreation.
So what is the proper balance between work and personal time? Obviously, this will be unique to each individual, and will vary within each lifetime. Each individual will have a different level of stress tolerance, stamina and ambition. Life circumstances evolve and all these factors must be carefully considered from time to time.
King Solomon of Israel, considered by some the wisest man to have ever lived, had much to say in his writings about hard work, balance and contentment in life. He wrote these words of instruction to his son in the book of Proverbs:
Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease! Proverbs 23:4
Times are indeed stressful and we face many demands, but striking a healthy balance in this one area of life can be a very positive step in the pursuit of overall happiness and fulfillment.