In Search of Work-Life Balance

It’s easy to get completely absorbed in work. Whether you work in an office or a warehouse, with customers or spreadsheets, treating patients or driving trucks, our jobs are a huge part of our lives. They provide a source of identity, connection, and meaning. But they can become all-consuming; the planning and paperwork, the quotas and deadlines, the trainings, meetings, and clients who take up way more time than they might deserve. All of which can get in the way of the thing we’re ostensibly working for — our actual lives.

On this episode, we look at work-life balance and why it can be so hard to find. We hear stories about how one entrepreneur found balance after decades as a workaholic, the struggles doctors face setting boundaries with their patients, and why taking breaks so often makes us feel guilty.

ALSO HEARD:

• Entrepreneur Kimanzi Constable had always put work at the center of his life — from working as a truck driver, to the two successful businesses he built from the ground up. His job wasn’t just what he did — it was who he was. But that all started to change a few years ago, when hard times, along with the perspectives of his Gen Z kids, forced him to rethink his work-life balance. We talk with Constable about how those reckonings led him to restructure his priorities, the way he works, and, ultimately, his life.
• In this excerpt from the podcast series “Only Human,” Maryland physician Neda Frayha discusses the tension between wanting to be available to her patients, and setting boundaries to protect her personal life.
• Stepping away from work every once in a while is essential — not only for our well-being, but for performing at our best. So why does taking time off make so many of us feel guilty? For an answer, we turn to philosopher Elizabeth Anderson, who explains how our Puritan roots continue to shape everything from our national labor laws to our attitudes toward work. Anderson’s latest book is “Hijacked: How Neoliberalism Turned The Work Ethic Against Workers and How Workers Can Take It Back.”
• Some people tell researcher and emergency physician Bon Ku that he works too much. But he disagrees. He says work-life balance is a myth. We talk with Ku about his passion for his work, how a recent epiphany has helped him ward off burnout, and what it takes to foster creativity amid a busy schedule.