Work/Life Updates: Recognizing Work & Family Month This October

When people think of work/life their first reaction is often to talk about “balance.” There is a popular concept that, for things to be going well, we have to maintain balance between our work, academic, and personal lives. If that is the case, then what does this “balance” look like and how can we make it happen for ourselves? Why is it that others seem to have achieved it, and we haven’t? Columbia’s Office of Work/Life is here to tell you that this type of balance does not and really cannot exist. Let us explain…

As Work/Life professionals know, achieving any kind of long-lasting balance between the professional and personal aspects of our lives is not possible. Trying to make it happen actually adds to our stress, negatively impacting our well-being.  During any given day or week or month, our priorities are shifting.  Instead of putting added pressure on ourselves to achieve that perfect and elusive “balance,” what we must do is to acknowledge that there are times when working to meet a deadline is going to take priority over family obligations and other times when a personal issue will become our primary focus. We need to be okay with the fact that our attention and time will shift frequently throughout our lives and careers. Work/Life is all about managing and accepting those shifts.  So when we say it isn’t possible to achieve long-lasting balance, we’re not being pessimistic or fatalistic.  Instead we’re suggesting that we reframe Work/Life to emphasize more of a mindful choice about where we place our focus during a given time, which is why you will never see us use the term "work/life balance".    

Flexibility, caregiving support, relocation assistance, and well-being are the cornerstones of the Work/Life field. Times of transition often have a destabilizing effect. These might include finding child care after a new child arrives, deciding to relocate to a new neighborhood, switching your child to a new school, or handling an elder care crisis. The Office of Work/Life offers individual consultations to help ease these transitions and allow you to better manage your professional and personal needs. With Columbia’s Back-up Care program (pending eligibility), you don’t need to worry about missing an important class or meeting when dependent care arrangements fall through. By utilizing flexible work policies, we can help managers and staff think creatively about when and where work gets done to keep personal and professional lives running smoothly. Exploring our well-being programs helps you to be mindful of your mental/emotional health, find time to fit physical activity into your day and work in a healthy way, or to just take a break.

When things start to feel out of “balance,” remember that the Work/Life team is here to help.