Work Hard Play Hard: Work Life Balance

To the Singaporean workforce, work-life balance is often something of a dream. Some reasons people disregard this balance can be being too overworked to have hobbies, and lacking the knowledge on the importance of work-life balance. However, it may come as a surprise that some people take pride in not having downtime and compete with one another on who is most overworked; this phenomenon is also known as the “oppression olympics” (see Lane, 2024). 

A healthy work-life balance is when one finds a way to manage work demands, as well as things you enjoy doing in your personal life (Healthdirect, n.d.).

Take advantage of the breaks that you currently have during work, such as lunch time! It can be useful to switch up your routine; taking alternate days to have lunch with colleagues or spend some alone time, exploring new lunch places, or even taking a stroll and having a meditation session (Eby, 2023). Secondly, break out of the auto-pilot mode. Work can be repetitive, making it easy for our minds to drift from the present moment. Hence, practising mindfulness such as breath awareness and self-reflection may enable us to be more attuned to bodily physical sensations and suppressed emotions (Cooks-Campbell, 2023).

Moreover, more hours worked does not equal more quality work accomplished. Overworking can lead to burnout (Hreha, 2023), which may take one more time to recover physically and mentally. More effective time management and a healthier balance can rejuvenate and motivate one to have greater productivity in both work and play, not to mention a reduction in stress levels. You’ll be surprised at how a brief walk can reorientate your mind! Not to mention, the default mode network in our brains, which activates during imaginative thinking, can facilitate “light bulb moments” where you find new connections and solutions to problems (Beaty et al., 2014; Carroll, 2020; McDonald, 2015). 

Written by: Adalee Loh

12/2024

References

Beaty, R. E., Benedek, M., Wilkins, R. W., Jauk, E., Fink, A., Silvia, P. J., ... & Neubauer, A. C. (2014, November). Creativity and the default network: A functional connectivity analysis of the creative brain at rest. Neuropsychologia, 64, 92-98. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4410786/ 

Carroll, J. (2020, August 29). Imagination, the brain’s default mode network, and imaginative verbal artefacts. Evolutionary perspectives on imaginative culture, 31-52. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-46190-4_2

Cooks-Campbell, A. (2023, May 25). How to have a good work-life balance. BetterUp. https://www.betterup.com/blog/how-to-have-good-work-life-balance 

Eby, K. (2023, May 27). How to improve work-life balance: 17 tips for success. Smartsheet. https://www.smartsheet.com/content/how-to-improve-work-life-balance

Healthdirect. (n.d.). Work-life balance. https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/work-life-balance 

Hreha, J. (2023, November 20). Work-life balance: Why it’s important and how to achieve it. Persona. https://www.personatalent.com/productivity/how-to-achieve-work-life-balance/  

Lane, S. (2024, September 4). How “oppression olympics” harms us all. Medium. https://medium.com/counterarts/how-oppression-olympics-harms-us-all-2e02703ad9e2 

McDonald, S. (2015, June 1). The science behind your light bulb moments in the shower. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/science-behind-your-light-bulb-moments-shower-sandy-mcdonald