About a decade or so ago, there was a lot of talk on “compartmentalization”. Corporate big bosses and job stress counsellors spoke continuously about how to achieve a state of balance in work and life by keeping them in different isolated, water-tight compartments. That meant keeping work-related issues far away from the home environment and vice versa. But with the change in the way inter-personal skills have been defined and the importance of building personal relationships seeing new light, it is no longer possible to keep personal life and work life apart.

A lot of the credit/blame also goes to technology. With mobile technologies witnessing steady up gradations and the advent of Whatsapp, GotoMeeting, and many other similar people connecting tools, people are staying connected 24/7 whether they want to or not. I find myself checking Whatsapp messages from friends while at work and taking late night conference calls when my kids are asleep. Talk about breaking boundaries! And when these barriers begin dissipating, the task of achieving the work life balance becomes all the more difficult. Work and life are no longer two separate entities, they have merged somewhere so viciously that we have to deal xenical with them as one single entity.

The obvious question that is raised in this situation is: how do we find the balance? The younger generation seems to achieve some semblance of a balance by giving equal importance to work and entertainment. Work hard and party equally hard! Travelling for de stressing seems to be another popular choice. Spas and resorts have sprung up everywhere. A lot of emphasis is being laid on developing different hobbies. With the average spending capacity witnessing an all-time high, none of these options seem impossible. While some focus on spending their time and money on these alternatives, the number of youngsters seen in Art of living centres is quite mind boggling.

While we all have our own pet methods to deal with stress and achieve that much sought after balance, the only way that works for me is the thought that work is just a means to a better life. I work to have a good life. That’s all. Work is not life, it is just a small part. Life is so much larger. I prefer to focus on the bigger picture. And that works for me!