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A modern twist on work-life balance encourages a more ‘realistic’ and fluid approach to juggling our daily commitments.
From the moment we start working, the question of balancing that work with our personal commitments becomes a lifelong fixation. And as modern capitalism demands more labour, time, and skills for comparatively less compensation, the chasm between our work and non-work selves seems only to grow.
Navigating that gap feels impossible for many of us. Even the demands of personal life have been reframed as jobs in their own right, particularly as social media encourages us to monetise every waking moment of our day. The vocational activities that may have filled our youth with joy now come with a mountain of responsibility. Hobbies need to be productive, friendship circles vibrant, and fitness schedules stocked.
Still the promise of a balanced lifestyle prevails. In our darkest moments it’s the concept that propels us forward, it keeps our nose to the grindstone despite feeble rewards. Of course, there are lots of people who love their job and find it fulfilling both emotionally and economically. But this isn’t the case for the vast majority who view work as a means of survival more than anything else.
I also doubt that those who’ve amassed enormous success in their working lives move through the world without sporadic moments of yearning, at best for a work-free life, and at least for a day off. Perhaps they’re the contingent most prone to this daydreaming. After all, such success doesn’t come without gruelling commitment (does it?).
It’s the billionaire camp who’ve spurned the dream of ‘work-life balance’ with such preening disdain that one feels stupid for chasing it. What do you mean, you want an existence beyond your capitalist contributions? Um… sorry, if you want ‘success’ that’s not possible, success meaning: money and a swollen investment portfolio.
I’ll admit I’m paraphrasing slightly here. Many of the world’s wealthiest may accept that this vision of achievement isn’t everyone’s fantasy. And to each their own. But I think conversations around work-life balance have grown increasingly negative, especially as older generations turn their noses up at Gen Z’s penchant for a more full-bodied way of life, one in which work is just a fraction of the picture, rather than the muse.
It’s just as well, then, that Harley Finkelstein has the answer. The president of Shopify spoke to Emma Grede (a public critic of our preoccupation with work-life balance) on her podcast Aspire, declaring the phrase ‘work-life balance’ a misnomer and suggesting we strive for something more ‘realistic’ instead.
The realistic prospect in question is ‘work-life harmony’, a more fluid approach to our careers that allows for inevitable contingency.
‘There are some Saturdays where I have to work,’ Finkelstein said, ‘and there are some Thursday afternoons that I go for a walk with my wife. That’s my version of harmony.’
‘Balance’, Finkelstein argues, implies rigidity, a clear-cut split between our corporate selves and our vocational selves. Harmony, by contrast, means accepting that some periods will have to lean heavily towards work and others towards life, so long as the overall rhythm feels sustainable.
