The Sole Determinant of Work-life Balance

There’s only one thing that determines your work-life balance, and that is where you decide to draw your line. Many people believe that companies, particular bosses, or cultures determine your work-life balance, but I haven’t found this to be the case.

The reason for this is that ultimately, the buck stops with you. You are always the determinant of whether you work overtime, commit to an unreasonable deadline, or pick up extra work.

Many will say that sometimes you don’t have the choice, to which I’ll respond with something my mother always told me growing up, “No one can make you do anything”. If you don’t feel you have a choice, I recommend you reconsider where you decide to draw your line.

The easiest way I’ve found this is to simply push back on things that you find unreasonable. If you say no to nothing, you are saying yes to everything. While saying no can feel scary, you’ll quickly learn that it can also feel empowering. Saying no leads to discussion at your job, not dismissal from your job — and if for some reason it did, I’d argue you’re doing yourself a favor.

If you don’t feel you’re in a position to say no, change your position. Over the years, I’ve learned that changing jobs is easier than changing your job. All the extra time, energy, and effort you’ll spend on work accrued from failing to say no could have instead been used to find a new job.

Thankfully, each time I’ve changed jobs in my career, it’s been for the better. I believe one of the reasons for this is that each time you gain new experiences at a company, you learn more and more of what you’ll for seek in a future employer and what you’ll actively avoid. Each job becomes a data point on a graph that becomes denser and more defined over time.

You determine your own work-life balance. While I can’t tell you how that scale should be balanced, I can remind you to evaluate it, and adjust it if needed. Sometimes it’s as easy as deciding to take a vacation, other times it’s as difficult as quitting a job, but remember, no matter how easy or hard it may be, it’s always your decision.

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