Member-only story
Adulting 101: Corporate Work/Life Balance
Four steps to figuring it out in 2021
The workforce is kinda weird right now, right? At least here in the U.S., we’ve got millions unemployed and millions of open positions. Restaurants and employers are offering “huge” signing bonuses and higher wages than before. And people are still quitting in droves despite it all. We’re seeing people flip career paths entirely. Leaving their cozy corporate jobs for passion projects. Maybe even realizing the office politics just aren’t worth the hassle. Hopefully, in all the chaos, there are some signs of healthier work/life balances. It all certainly feels like a turning point. Not a huge turn, mind you, but while we slowly veer into whatever new normal this is, here are four tips to help you figure it all out if you’re in an office environment.
1) Time & Flexibility
Maybe the most obvious, but most important. What is your time worth to you? How do you prefer to spend that time? A lot of us want more flexibility these days (I know I do). Flexibility affords us a little taste of freedom. A long lunch to go to the gym or calling it a day at 4:30 to go to your daughter’s soccer game. For most of us, that doesn’t sound too wild. For some corporations, however, that’s damn near scandalous. For years, companies have been paying you for your time. When you’re on the clock, they own you. That makes this new wave of remote work and flexible schedules terrifying for corporations, and I kind of understand it. I don’t support it, but I understand it. We need to be judged for the work we do, not the time our asses are sitting in a rollie chair. Luckily, a lot of companies are coming around to this more progressive way of thinking. So, if you’re out there on the job hunt, have these conversations early. Be upfront about your expectations, hours, and how you’d like to spend them. For all our sakes though, don’t abuse it. This could turn into a “this is why we can’t have nice things” issue and I don’t want to give up my mid-day yoga.
2) Independence
So, flexibility is pretty great. But maybe you need even more independence. You’re tired of office politics altogether and over rotating pdfs for your boss (too real?). You just want to work for yourself. Luckily, that’s also becoming…
