How to Find Better Work-Life Balance: Add Some Fun
Pencil it in.
One thing we miss about the physical separation of work and life is leaving the office as a delineation, a gateway to our more leisurely selves. Sure, we still checked our phone, but it was on “our” time. Now, we don’t need a survey to tell us (though there are plenty) that we’re working more—not less—without no commute and little escape from our “to do” lists. (If we’re honest about it, this was already a pre-pandemic issue for many knowledge workers, as Derek Thompson’s 2019 essay points out.)
Still, we know by now that the status quo is just the initial offer—plenty of room for negotiation. With a little intention and planning, we can make sure our WFH lives have plenty of fun built in.
Steal Back Your Sunday. It’s all too tempting to utilize weekend time to catch up on chores or even work, but we implore you to put a stop to it by Saturday, dinnertime. We get it: Sometimes it simply isn’t possible to contain your tasks to five weekdays, so rolling into Saturday with ambition makes some sense. Knowing that come dinner time, you’ll commit to relaxing until Monday rolls around will force you to keep things real, get the necessities done—and fuel up for the week.
Whistle While You Work. Lately, we’ve been looping in fun while doing things that are most decidedly un-fun—like folding laundry, cleaning the kitchen and other routine chores. Pairing pedestrian tasks with some of our fluffier shows (hello, Moira and David), audio books and podcasts we’ve saved for the occasion makes us actually look forward to those otherwise mundane moments.
Set Some Squad Goals. It’s fine in our book to mix goal-setting and pleasure. Find something that you and your nest (or circle) would like to accomplish together. We’ve been making our way through Hitchcock films. Maybe you want to tackle the Bond series or cook your way through a cookbook. Having some structure and a goal might make fun feel a bit less guilty-pleasure and more purposeful. Leisure is the point, so if something lures you toward a time out, by definition it must be worthy.
