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Week1 [06.03-12.03.2017] Work-Life Balance

Read & watch about two approaches to work-life balance and comment on them/discuss them.
Present your personal experiences.
Sources:
http://www.bbc.com/capital/gallery/20170223-the-boss-who-doesnt-believe-in-work-life-balance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdpIKXLLYYM

Comments

Sylwia Pechcin said…
I don't have such problems as dealing with work-life balance yet. But in the future I wouldn't like to work in a company like VideoAmp. Of course I can understand that some people love their jobs and could do it all the time, but it isn't normal for me. Every person needs to go out, take a rest or chill from time to time.
Unknown said…
A few words about Ross McCray from the first article:
Well, working more then 100 hours in a week sounds crazy. It means that he works more then 14 hours daily, even in weekends. Plus all stuff that he's doing before work(about 2 hours), some games and talks after work, and, in fact, the day is over.
But the reason he didn't hanged himself in a first month is his daily schedule - wake up with sunrise, meditate, do physical activity and only after that he is starting his work. It's hard to follow such schedule, but, as we know, hard work pays off.

P.S. His work space reminds me the hackers lair in a movies, not the real space for work. Does he needs 4 monitors and laptop for work?
Unknown said…
I can't imagine this kind of life. In fact all what you do all day it is one thing. I doubt that in Poland there are people who are so engaget in work. Maybe if you have your own firm or you love what you do. But when you work for someone you ofen think that your employer wants to cheat you.
I think that physical activitiy at work is a good idea. I remember when I was in high school my class tutor ofen used this technique. When she saw that students were bored she told us to do some exercise.
Unknown said…
To be honest, it's hard to believe in such life like Ross McCray has. First of all, as Denys said, he would have to work for over 14 hours daily. Every day. It's frightening.
What about other activities? Of course, he wakes up at 4:30. Meditation, sport etc. before work. Fine. If we talk about 14 hours for work, he comes back home minimum at 10 p.m. Everyday duties or simple activities also take time. So he goes to bad at about midnight. Minimum. So sleeps for 4,5 hours. Next day, he must be tired. As I said - it's frightening for me.

Some time ago, I used to work and study a lot, slept very briefly and had no time for family, friends or even girlfriend. It was very demanding. I had no power for anything.
Fortunatelly for me, I've changed. I promised myself - never ever again. I believe in work-life balance and think that I will always try to keep it in a proper proportions.

On the other hand, what is proper proportions? I think Ross McCray would say that according to him, he lives in a "proper proportions"
I believe that the approach presented by Ross McCray is extremely rare. I agree that there are many people who work a lot and they have a good reason to do so (e.g. in order to repay their loan), but the case of Ross and his team borders on the ridiculous. I can't imagine how it could be possible to maintain this way of life. It seems to be not feasible when you also study or have your own family, worse still, both.
Fortunately, they forewarn potential employees about their work culture at least.

In contrast, I agree with most of the statements mentioned by Nigel Marsh in his TED talk. The key is to find the time for all the things you consider especially important, which is what I'm trying (and probably most of us) to achieve in my life.
Unknown said…
I have no idea how people like Ross McCray are able to find a time to build a family or time to sit and talk to a friend. After reading about him, I thought he is lonely in his life. He is a great businessman, ok, it's important. He has a healthy lifestyle and a perfect day routine. But is it enough for person to be happy? For him it might be enough, but I'm sure, there aren't a lot of people like him. For me it definitely wouldn't work. I'm a kind of person who loves to spend time with family and friends, who enjoys quiet day off when I'm able to relax and to do all things but work.

I agree with Nigel Marsh, especially with the point that small things matter. Just a regular walk in the park and pizza made him child happy. For me it's more important than working all your days long to achieve career but lose important relationships.
Unknown said…
To be honest I admire Roos McCray. The way he deals with all those duties is quite impressive.

I my opinion to follow such way you must be highly motivated and follow some rules e.g.:
1. Set only one goal. More than one will divide your focus.
2. Never multitask. You’re going to mess everything up if you do this.
3. Separate the thinking from doing. And make decisions fast (based on the goal and plan you set up earlier).
4. Communicate with yourself. Set up a schedule for self-talk, and make sure you only do this in a positive state of mind.
5. Have an exit plan. The truth is, you can’t stay in this mode for long, you will eventually burnout. Plan an exit strategy in advance. How long you need to work this way? What do you want to accomplish with this?
6. Measure progress to ensure you’re on the right track. You don’t have the time and energy to do everything over again. So, make sure you keep an eye on where you’re heading.
7. Eat healthy foods. If it’s possible, hire someone to plan your meals and cook for you. What you eat is extremely important to your performance, but in most cases, they are not the important decision you want to make.

Here you can find some more examples of CEOs who works more than 80 hours per week: http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-work-long-hours-and-still-have-a-life-2015-3?IR=T

There is even a polish plot, so i recommend for you this article.
Unknown said…
I have an idea that daily work in Ross McCray's opinion is time that you spent in office, including physical activities, dinner and other non-work stuff.

P.S. The second idea explains everything in a beautiful manner: he's a Superman.
Unknown said…
I've read this article and it looks like in most cases CEOs saying that for working long hours you have to "pay attention to your body", i.e. eat healthy foods and do physical activities every day.
In my opinion the main reason why it is really hard to archive work-life balance while working 80 hours in a week is the problem of combining work with health.
Unknown said…
Well, I always knew that there are such individuals who work almost all the time, take overtime and stay at work long hours, but this is terrible vision for me. Of course, it is great when you really like what you do, but there are many many other aspects of life that also need your daily time. I think that what this guy Roos McCray is doing is really crazy and impressive. How can he live like that ? It's something unimaginable, I would not like to have such a life. Work is important, of course, but also your other interests, your family, your hobbies, other duties need your attention during the day.
Unknown said…
A tribe of warriors they call themselves. Okay, that sounds cool but coming to office at 6am and leaving at 8pm? They would have to pay really good and I would have to have no family nor social life of my own at all in order to even consider working there. In my opinion it is quite a matter of preference. Want to make your life about work and work only? Fine, this looks like a great place to start. I just wonder if those people are feeling happy living at work. They could say so in an interview, they sure does not look like they are in the article's pictures.
About the TED talk, "Certain job and career choices are fundamentally incompatible with being meaningfully engaged on a day-to-day basis with a young family" this blew my mind a little bit because it's quite true when you think about it. How can I spend meaningful time with my family if I have to work from 8 to 10 hours a day (or more), waste 3 hours a day for the commute, have 7-8 hours of sleep, do house chores, take care of my body, cook, eat, rest. That's a challange.
From my actual expierience when I have to work 3 days a week, attend classes at PJ, get work done, learn so much in so little time, it's no easy and exhausting already as it is without having family of my own. Lets just hope automation will solve lack of this meaningful time.
Wasting 14 hours daily doing your job is not really any different from wasting the rest of your day browsing Facebook or watching cats on the internet - nearly everybody above assumed automatically that the guy is putting lots of effort into his job and that it's demanding - this might not be the case at all.

Yes, free time is VERY important for every human, as everybody needs stress-relief, entertaning, family-contact, sleep and everything else to be happy. But I wouldn't automatically assume that work = effort. Many jobs are not really demanding, there can be a guy working 12 hours daily in a calm and easy job doing much less than other guy is doing in his 3 daily hours.

But yes, like I pointed out above, free time is very important, as we should never waste our lifes like that doing the same thing over and over again regardless of what it is - balancing our daily activities with some relax is very important.
Unknown said…
I work in a large corporation for two years and at the same time I was studying daily; I have classes three days a week and work in an average of 32 hours per week, so I know how it's hard to achieve work-life balance. By this time I had a chance to learn, that is how much time we devote to work primarily depends on us. Firstly, it is important that we know how to organize our time. The fact that we work a lot doesn't translate into efficiency and our careers. For employers primarily count results so we have to work to obtain them quickly and with minimal effort. There is a saying "work smart not hard" ;)

I prefer approach Nigel Marsh than Roos McCray. I know that professional success is important, but it isn't the only purpose of our lives, but what about family and friends or our hobbys? Work should be only part of our life. Of course it's the best way when our work is our hobby because then what we do makes us happy and then the money is not the only determinant of success.
That's true that corporations always have "good intentions", but as we follow our life always depends on us even if you work in a corporation. We need to set goals without destroying our lives.
Unknown said…
As I am impressed and admire McCray for his dedication, I do believe that such lifestyle is only for few people. Those who like to work hard and are not planning to develop other branches of their lives. I don't think it is possible to create healthy relationship with anyone, study new things and have time for vacation when you work even 60 hours a week, not to mention 100. They just described classic rat race as something noble. Well for me it blatantly stupid. If they do like it well, yeah go ahead, get a heart attack before fourties. I do believe that what Nigel said is more like my idea of balanced life. Especially what he said about accepting the fact that some career choices are just unfitting for life where you want to have family, friends and some time for yourself.
Adam Paśniczek said…
I understand and respect the point of view of Ross McCray. Exercises are very important when we would like to increase our progress and take control of our life. This kind of discipline is hard to achieve but I'm sure that it will be very efficient in the future. On the other hand I do not agree with him in one point, outside of his work there is no place for such thing like relationship, family or spirituality. As a people we need for diversity in many areas otherwise it may cause burnout. He forgot that work is not only important but there is many other things that we should take care of. Nigel Marsh has right when he said in his TED talks that we have to find balance in our lifes and do not forget that small things matters.
Unknown said…
I think to maintain balance between work and life you need to be well organised person. Some people born with that, but the others needs to practise so I agree with Ross's point of view, that exercises are important. I think you can't spend all the time in work, because for longer period of time you'll just get bored.It's good to have a hobby or breaks in work to clear your mind and come up with new ideas.
I'm admired by people like Ross McCray, such people know how to achieve their goals. But I agree with others that it is impossible to work 14 hours a day, with his lifestyle, and have time for something other than work. Family and friends are very important part of life, and if I were in his place, I couldn't refuse them for work. In my opinion, Ross should start working less and spend more time with family and friends, enjoy those little happy moments of our life.
For myself, I would take a few rules of his life to improve my productivity and better balance my life. Because there is no limit to perfection.
Michał Pycek said…
To me maintaining a work-life balance means prioritizing my goals, tasks and duties in a right way. Very often I feel I don't have enough time to rest, but still I manage to organize my time so I complete what I have set my mind to. In my opinion organisation and time management skills are crucial in order to achieve anything at work, projects and personal development, as well as in personal life, hobbies and interests.
Maciej Główka said…
In my opinion it is very important to maintain balance between work and personal life. However, I am really impressed about Ross McCray and his determination. Sometimes you need to change your life like Ross to achieve some really hard goals you set for yourself. Nonetheless, you can't forget about your family and friends, that are very important aspect of our lives.
I understand, that for some period of time you can live like Ross and focus only on your goals, however, in my opinion such life is devastating in long term.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I respect Ross McCray's attitude, but for me, it sounds very difficult to have a lifestyle like his. After reading the article about him I got the impression a job is the most important thing in his life. I totally disagree with him, because like Nigiel Marsh said in his TED talk - "there are other parts to life - there is the intellectual side, there is the emotional side, there is the spiritual side". I belive you can't attend to all of those areas if you spend 14 hours daily in work like McCray. If you want to have a happy life you have to attend to as many as possible areas - not only to job side. In conclusion, I would like to citie the words of the Dalai Lama: "Man surprised me most about humanity. Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money.
Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live in the present or the future; he lives as if he is never going to die, and then dies having never really lived.”
Vyvyan said…
In my opinion work-life balance is very important to achieve. I'm working almost a year now in average company as a Java developer and I can say that, at the beginning, the hardest part of it wasn't work but learning about how to have time for my family, friends and school.
Now my life is very organized. Calendar is very helpful. I know where I have to be, at what time and what particular task I have to do.
I can't imagine myself working 14 hours a day. I rather work less and have lower salary than sacrifice my life and relationships.
Work-life balance means for me 'work smart not hard'. I can do my tasks very quickly and in estimated time with no effort. It would be impossible if I was disorganized.
Unknown said…
I think that important is to work and rest. Rest is also very important. Man cannot live just a job. Life can't be pleasant when we have a lot of job.
I think that the example of these two men perfectly describes how over time changing attitudes things. Ross McCray 25-year-old boy who develops his firm VideoAmp and obviously it has the initial priority , otherwise we see Nigel Marsh who currently in adulthood , he wrote 4 books , has a family, 4 children , and it is not strange that his main priorities at the moment is family. But I agree with the words of Nagel March you need to balance between different things , as he gave an example you can't just go to the gym but upstate emotional or intellectual side, I think that if you learn how to obtain the middle ground between all aspects of life the quality of life change for the better.
I think people can be divided into 2 conditional , people who live for the job (for example workaholic) , and people who work to live.
Unknown said…
I know that work-balance is important, but even in my short career I met people who have got problem with this.
I can understand working 14 hours a day, because I know that this is normal work time in some comapnies for people, who want to be there and to be promoted. Because there is rat race and everyone wants to be very best. But you can easily see that those people are really stressed.
I believe and I can see, looking at my colleagues, that work-life balance is important. Those who work the most are stressed and tired. Even if they can rest they are checking e-mails and doing some reserach, for example on Sunday. I believe that this is too much, but I know that they are trying so hard because they want to be succesfull at work.
Since September I'm working and I had got some problems with work-life balance, because you have to be really well organised to take care of work, school, family and friends. In my case I believe it wouldn't be so easy if not help of my closest family and friends, who understand that I'm busy and even if they are planning something they consider that I don't have got much time in week and that when there is weekend I have got some things to do. It was very helpful that I was well organised and mandatory, so I wasn't skipping any duties, but there were times when I was really tired and I had got problem to keep up with everything.
I believe that moderation is important - you can't work all the time, because it will make you a robot. Everyone have to rest, sleep well, eat well and makes what makes them happy, so they can be happy and satisfied with their lifes.
Work-Life balance for me is one the most important things in life, because why am I going to work, when I don't have time to spend all that money I earned, to spend that time with friends or family. For me finding this golden mean is crucial for well being. When I'm reading about people that are working for 60 hours per week or even more is like reading about patients of psychiatric hospital. I can understand that for some their work is thing they love, but we will be working for next 40 years so why waste so much time for it. When can we find time for our hobbies or friends? When we will be in retirement? We don't know if we can make to it, so why so many people leaves theirs plans for that time. On the other side it's not completely our fault, because corporations are trying to assimilate this Japanese way of thinking that work is our whole live and we go to work early morning and leave it very late. I don't want this to happen in my life.
Roos McCray looks like a very sad man for me. He is achieving his goals - there is no doubt about. But like everything in life, it doesn't come without a price. As I saw on the movie he sleeps in a single bed, because there no way to keep a woman for life or plan a family in that tight schedule and that little free time. There is also a lot of pressure when it comes to achieving those goals, resolving current problems, etc. - that is why he is adding a lot of physical activities, because that is the best way and almost only way for a good healthy sleep - body is just to busy and tired and cuts everything off - I've tested it myself many times.
I work about 50 hours a week. There is also school which I have to put into my schedule, other activities like shooting, climbing just to release the pressure and keep my mental state clear. For a long period of time it is not a good way of life. Sorry no job or no money will re-compensate quality time spent with my friends, family or girlfriend. There is just no price for that and someday he will notice that.
Magdalena Popek said…
As I started working about half a year ago for me work-life balance was actually more like work-nolife actually-can't-even-call-it-balance balance. Working, studying, learning, sleeping. No life. No balance. At all. I could not think about anything more than work and uni. All the time I was in a must-do-something (work/learn/anything) mode. I could not rest nor relax. It was that moment I understood why for some people it is so hard to balance work and personal life.
Even though it is not perfect yet, my life is now starting to be (I believe you can call it) *organized*.
I totally agree with Dominika - I couldn't devote my life to work. In my opinionI work to live, not live to work. I work to be able to do all the amazing things that can be done, but require money (eg. travelling).
I wouldn't want to live McCray's life. 14 hours of work a day, it's crazy. But this is what you do when your work is your hobby, your passion. When you like your work so much it is not working anymore. "Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life". In any other case, at least for me, it is nearly impossible to work so much and still maintain the balance between your job and your life.
Unknown said…
Nowadays work-life balance is dificult, but it's a very important thing, because we have a lot of tasks everyday and we have to choose what's the most important for us. In this regard I try to listen only to myself, because I know that I shouldn't compare myself to others. When I was studying and working (I needed money to sustain myself and pay for school) I felt bad - I was often sick, I didn't have time for myself and for development during this time.

Everyone is different and we have to think what we like, what we want and what is too difficult for us. I can read Nigel Marsh's book, but I won't start living like him. Ross McCray's daily routine is difficult and controversial, but maybe it's the best for him. We shouldn't judge others. I admire people who spent 14 hours at work if they are happy and can tell us what they made and created today (not just complain or brag about how much they work). People who have family, small children, time for a dog and for reading books in bath and work for 4 hours a day - that's great too.
Nigel said that a lot of people 'work long, hard hours at jobs they hate to enable them to buy things they don't need to impress people they don't like'. And this is really sad and something I think we all should strive to avoid.
Unknown said…
I know one guy, who is the copy of Ross - many hours at work, gym, meditation, black clothes not to waste the time choosing the outfit, living alone.. He seems to be so successful, but somewhere inside this energetic person there is a sad and depressive guy, and I feel sorry for him. He even works in a similar company, and I guess, such people just can't have this balance, they don't see it, don't see the difference between work place and their home, 'cause their whole life is there, at the office. They replace the real life by their job, because they could't find their place in the real life. Of course, I would be glad to be wrong in my opinion, wish that those people really knew what they do and choose, but, unfortunately, still there are so many examples of people, who just seem to be making their choice.

I like the Mr. Marsh's position, he seems to be happier. He has came through the different periods of life and find out what is really important. His mind is clear and he doesn't take it too serious. I hope to find this harmony one day in my life. This is the right way for me to be happy.
Unknown said…
Two different opinions from two different guys. One is 25 years old, successful single, the other one is just some guy in a suit with a spouce, beloved children and probably a dog. It is impossible for those people to have the same perspective. I would honestly disagree with both of them, maybe it is useful to have work-life balance, but it is impossible to separate them completely. If You want to be active and productive, You have think about having limited time a week, and just organise it flexiby.
Unknown said…
McCray life is a total (balanced but still) mess for me. I'm not convinced that anyone can work so long on a daily basis, moreover enjoy his life. Maybe he just gets this impression, because the thought how much he has done during single day is impressive. Exactly like it raise my spirits. That's why I always try to do a lot of short tasks during my day. I noticed that this way I'm more focused, I work quicker and when I finish even small thing I'm much more motivated to start the other.
McCray idea for non-limited holidays is also terrifying. If he demands that worker should be available on his phone, computer or receives emails - that means still live like on working day while being on his leave, that is not a vacation at all for me.
If talking about Nigel Marsh speech, I can agree that the point of well balanced life is in taking small steps to improve our life in the parts we need it rather than taking a major steps forward.
Unknown said…
I work in big corporation, I've met many different people and few of them are exactly like Ross McCray.
They are really well organised, always well dressed, never late etc.
Working with this kind of people is really motivating and interesting but I can't imagine myself working this way every day.
Time spent with family or friends is for me much more valuable.
Ihor Ahnianikov said…
Ross McCray is an inspiring example of a person with good time management, but I think that it's not about time you spend working on something - it's about productivity. Working 24/7 will not make you successful, and even if it does it's not a miracle - It would be an awesome case-study if Ross McCray managed to built the same company while creating a family, spending time with his friends etc.

At the same time I think that there's no such thing as work-life balance in the long term - if you're inspired and really love what you do you can't just forget about it.
I think that maintaining work-life is one of the most important things in life of almost every adult person.
I know a lot of people who put their work first(not as much as Ross McCray, it seems almost like he has some mental problems) and their life second, and ultimately almost all of them end up being alone, and kind of happy but not really.
I think that work is very important but should not be the main aspect of our lives.
The most important thing in maintaining healthy work-life balance is to not mix work with life, but keep them as separate as it’s possible.
Even though Ross believes he is living a perfect life, I would not be so sure about that. Maybe he does his hobby for a living, and is very succesfull, but at the end of a day he don't have someone to share his achievements. There is no one waiting for him at his big apartment. Maybe he needs time, like Nigel, who realized what is important for him only when he turned his forties. Maybe Ross is a kind of person that can live only by him self, but this is not in human nature. I also work, and study. It's hard to find time for my family and friends or at least to do some sports to refresh my mind. Maybe I should think how to reorganize my work-life balance.
Unknown said…
I think its important thing to have your own private life and also work-life because if you only focus in one of this case you wouldnt be happy. Private life with your friends and family can make you more happy and can help to forget about your problem.
Bartosz Łyżwa said…
In my opinion there are professions that don't let people separate life and work. For example - surgeon doctor. If he fails surgery, it's going aroung him and his mind for a long time I think. It's not like "ooh, nothing has happend. He'll be OK". I'm rather happy that I'm programmer :D there are no many stressful situations, easy life, etc. Of course, sometimes there are worse days but generally it doesn't happen. One of many pros of being programmer is that you don't want to spend your time next to computer anymore after work :D

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