Does Technology Help or Hinder Work-Life Balance?

A recent article from Time Magazine discusses how our culture of constant connectivity is changing the definition of work-life balance. It made me think: Does technology help us achieve work-life balance, or has it completely blurred the lines between work and play?

I’d say the answer is a little of both.

Millennials Consider Work-Life Balance Vital

This global study on work-life balance found 74% of Millennials ranked work-life balance as a very important factor in a potential job. It also found “no flexibility” to be one of the top reasons why Millennials leave a job, even if it means relocating or taking a pay cut.

E-mail and Social Media have made it virtually impossible to achieve traditional work-life balance. Our bosses can reach us by e-mail at any time, and more than likely we’ll respond. No one ignores an e-mail from the boss.

Part of this is a by-product of Millennials being the first generation that grew up on the Internet. A recent survey by Workfront shows how 54% of Millennials are okay with answering a work-related e-mail while eating dinner with family, while only 22% of Baby Boomers found this acceptable.

While this data could be interpreted to mean Millennials are accepting of this constant connectivity to work, I think it stems from our general addiction to our smartphones. How many times have you checked your e-mail on your phone out of habit, only to feel an unpleasant lurch in your stomach when you see you have a work e-mail?

Separate Yourself From Your Smartphone

In today’s constantly connected society, the best path towards work-life balance involves disconnecting. Since Millennials use Social Media and texting for communication, ditching our smartphones can cause feelings of anxiety and loneliness. Last year, I spent 30 days with no Internet or smartphone just to see how addicted to technology I was. I’d like to say I felt great and reconnected with nature, but I felt awful.

Make a resolution to give yourself a block of time each day where your phone goes off, and get in a habit of turning your phone off when you’re with other people.

Work While You’re at Work if You Want Work-Life Balance

One of the things the Time article points out is how Millennials have no issue with checking their personal e-mails or Social Media profiles while on the clock at work, yet they don’t want to “take work home.” This relationship is unfair to an employer.

If you want your employer to respect your personal time, then don’t bring your personal life to the workplace. It’s great to get along with your co-workers, but be wary of becoming close friends. It becomes too easy to slack off and talk about things that have nothing to do with work.

Work hard while you’re at work, and you won’t feel guilty about leaving work at the office when you punch out.

Keep Social Media Personal

There is NO benefit of connecting with anyone you work with on any Social Media platform besides LinkedIn. This even applies to e-mail. You should make an email that is strictly for work, and make sure it’s not linked to your smartphone. This separation keeps you from seeing a work e-mail when you just meant to check your personal email.

The best way to keep your Social Media personal is to hide. Change your name to a nickname and put all your accounts on the strictest privacy setting. You should also create an anonymous Twitter for when you get the urge to tweet something questionable. What’s the harm of going on a Twitter rant on an egg account with 0 followers? A lot less than tweeting a complaint about work that awkwardly gets favored by your boss.

How important is work-life balance to you? Would you leave a higher paying job for a job with more flexibility? Let us know!