One day nearly two weeks ago, I conducted a series of morning conference calls, dashed to a noon presentation, skipped lunch, then ran to an interview with Forbes.com.  After the interview, I hurried back to my hotel and tackled a boat-load of e-mail.  Eventually, I rushed out and grabbed a bite of dinner.  When I finally headed to bed that night, I had to chuckle.  During the interview, I had been asked to speak about the T-Ball Generation and their determination to successfully achieve work-life balance.  I had to honestly admit to myself that no one, not my fellow Baby Boomers nor most T-Ballers, would review my day and find that I had achieved work-life balance.

 

In the days since then, I’ve thought a great deal about balancing life and work.  I think the word that really trips us all up is “balance.”  To many of us, that word congers up a picture of a teeter totter, a long narrow board, suspended in the middle upon a fulcrum.  When in balance, neither side is higher than the other.  In the work context, somehow we’ve come to believe that the amount of attention one devotes to work should equate to the attention directed to home and family. 

 

I’ll be honest; I don’t know anyone who has ever truly achieved this, especially on a day-to-day basis.

 

Over a life-time, hopefully we do achieve balance.  We recognize that we have days, maybe even weeks and months, when employers ask that we throw 100% of our efforts at particular projects. There’s nothing wrong with doing just that.  Hopefully, friends and family understand these periodic pushes.  Similarly, there are times when friends and families should become our top priorities—moments when no BlackBerry message or cell phone call is as important as the moment about to be experienced.