Work-Life-Balance is dead. Now here's a controversial statement to start with.
I never really liked the concept of work somehow being separate from this thing called life. Do I not continue living while I'm at work? Do I magically leave "life” at the door to the office? And what all is “life” even? It seems too simplistic.
When it comes to our mental well-being, scientists talk about 5 different domains of life - work being one of them - that we need to balance in order to flourish.
So instead of work being separate from life, happiness and purpose at work is one of the parts that make up a happy life. The others are family, community, health, and spirituality (VanderWeele 2017).
Today, we will take stock of those five domains in our life, and see if any of them might need a bit more attention.
The Activity - Draw your 5 Life Domaines
Here are some tunes to listen to while doing this activity
Step 1: Circles
Take out a piece of paper or your sketchbook, and draw 5 circles on the page. If you're not good at free-handing circles (seriously, who is?) use a glass or a cup to trace around.
Label each of the five circles as Work, Spirituality, Community, Family, and Health.
Step 2: Fill the circles
Now reflect on the theme of each circle and draw something that represents how this domain shows up in your life. You can do illustrations, or just colours or patterns to represent how you feel about this area of your life.
Work - think about your job, or school, or whatever unpaid labour we spend our days with. Do you feel a sense of accomplishment? To you get engrossed in your work? Does it light you up? Is it a constant source of stress?
Spirituality - we’re not just talking about religious faith here. It’s your values and core beliefs, your worldview, and that which gives you purpose and meaning.
Community - your friends, your tribe, your neighborhood, your knitting circle, your football club. Do you feel like you’re a part of a bigger group that you can fall back and rely on?
Family - blood related or chosen, which role does family play in your life?
Health - both mentally and physically, how are you feeling?
Step 3: Balance
Looking at each of the areas in your life, think about which ones take up the most space in your week. Are there any that you’re maybe neglecting? What are some small steps you can take to give those areas a little bit more attention next week?
My Example
Work is always a mixed bag, there are some really exciting things happening, but also a good amount of stress to go along with that.
Spirituality is a budding flower in the night. I’m pretty sure about my beliefs and how I see the world, but I’m still searching for that deeper connection and sense of purpose.
My community is growing. I’ve joined some networking groups and am meeting new people. I loved my covid-country-side-work-from-home season, but it’s getting a bit lonely, so I’m glad to venture out there and putting more people on my map.
Family is just pink clouds of so much love at the moment. My heart is full.
My health mantra is a phrase I learned from Buddhism.
Heart like the ocean (able to calm down even after the biggest waves), body like a mountain (strong and grounded), mind like the sky (open and wide).
Thanks to my newfound love of powerlifting, and ongoing work on my mental health, I’m feeling pretty good these days.
Next week, I’ll try to get in a meditation session and maybe listen to a talk to boost some of that spirituality. How about you?
I hope you’ve enjoyed this prompt. See you next week!
Love, Lorena