What is Work-Life Synergy and How to Apply it to your life
I think we have all heard the term “work-life balance” but what about work-life synergy? According to an article on Medium.com “Work-life balance implies there are two sides competing, like weights on opposite sides of a scale, and by compartmentalizing you can focus fully on one and then the other. Work-life synergy focuses on finding ways work and personal life can interact and cooperate, creating harmony out of their combined existence. (Life includes your family, friends, health, community, hobbies, and more.)”
This means that through work-life synergy we can find a way to focus our efforts on a better overall future for ourselves. One example described in the Medium.com article describes a scenario of a woman wanting to take time out of her workday to spend time on yoga. She felt like it wouldn’t be worth it to take the time away from friends and family and found a way to teach yoga at work with others who were interested in joining. It doesn’t take too much time away from work, it creates a better culture in the office, and she still reserved time devoted to her friends and family.
Hibob.com does a great job of breaking down synergy a bit more. “The key to employee satisfaction is flexibility rather than a fixed work model that requires people to come into the office at set times.” From shifting daily lists to weekly priority mapping, to being physically and mentally present as often as possible, to doing what you love and how you do it, there are a plethora of ways to make synergy work best for you. Keep in mind that your employer may want to establish “in office” work schedules that support the collaboration needed to drive the business, so be flexible.
One of the best ways to start applying this mindset to your life is to stop viewing work and personal life as two completely different entities. There are ways to combine work and personal life to make your life run more smoothly and efficiently get everything you need accomplished. Being communicative with your employer is huge to adjust to this new mindset. This might not be the best option for everyone, but the world isn’t black and white. There is gray area in so many things we do, and this is just another one of those.