Stepping Back and Reevaluating Work-Life Balance

Christopher J. Henneforth is a Columbus, Ohio-based entrepreneur with extensive experience in the investment banking and financial advisory sphere. With a focus on family, fitness, work, and sleep, Christopher J. Henneforth considers these the “four pillars” of a life well lived.

When it comes to maintaining a proper work-life balance, many people seek to attain a set goal. A 2020 study focused on 80 London employees from the ages of 30 to 50 pointed to a more complex scenario of shifting goal lines. Of those interviewed, 30 percent of men and half of women described themselves as resisting having a long work week imposed. The other respondents reported taking on long work hours, because this fit their image of what being a successful professional involves.

Those who resisted the long hours described employing strategies of “reflexivity,” or maintaining a state of continuously reflecting on and questioning assumptions. Taking time to assess when experiencing stress, they weighed counterpoised emotions such as anger, sadness, life satisfaction, and happiness.
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This enabled workers to reprioritize, in ways that ensured that they had enough personal and family time in their schedule. At the same time, they looked for creative pathways that would allow them to re-balance their lives. Often, this proved as simple as not volunteering to take on new projects they didn’t have time to handle, and requesting more flexibility from a supervisor.

Originally published at https://christopherjhenneforth.weebly.com.