BY DRU PERERA, FOUNDER OF GLOBAL RESET, (MCAPSC (HONS), PGDIPSPTCHG (DIST), BED (TEACHING) PRIMARY, BA)
Businesses and hurry have become the norms in today’s world, resulting in many people developing unhealthy rest-work routines that lead to anxiety, fatigue, and burnout. As a result, more and more people are discontent, restless, overworked, and languishing. In short, the pace and pressure of maintaining a hectic lifestyle are taking a toll on people’s lives. For example, the world’s largest-ever study on rest found that most people felt hurried, with 68% saying they would like more rest (Hammond and Lewis, 2016). The pandemic heightened these socio-emotional needs. For instance, the APA’s 2021 Work and Well-being Survey found that 79% of employees had experienced work-related stress in the month before the survey. Similarly, in March 2022, the World Health Organisation confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic had triggered a 25% increase in anxiety and depression worldwide.
The pandemic, however, also brought wellness and personal development to a peak. People worldwide are beginning to realize that rest is a necessity, not an indulgence (GWI, 2022). The Global Wellness Summit (2022) says that as people emerge from the pandemic, and factor in social indicators such as the “Great Resignation”, there is a profound rising commitment to work-life balance and personal growth and happiness.
What is life balance?
Human beings are hardwired to work. Work-life balance is, therefore, a myth because work IS part of life. Instead, people need to start rethinking life balance in terms of their rest-work rhythms. Rest is perceived as the elusive reward for hard work, and in a world obsessed with productivity, rest has now become counter-cultural and counter-intuitive. Therefore, although many people desire to rest, they don’t make it a priority.
Change your words, change your reality
Albert Einstein says, “You can’t solve problems using the same thinking you used when you created them.” As long as people keep focusing on work-life balance, they will keep getting the same old results. Words have power. As Pastor Mark Batterson says in his new book, Please, Sorry, Thanks, “words create worlds.” Could we start moving toward accomplishing life balance by changing our words? Let’s find out! Adapt a new, more wholesome way of thinking about life balance by including the word rest into the equation. Then, help yourself and others stop trying to balance work with life by becoming more intentional about your rest rhythms.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Dru is a certified coach with two decades of leadership experience. She has discovered that human beings are hardwired with unique rest-work life rhythms to keep them flourishing from the inside out. Her thinking is counter-cultural and counter-intuitive. Dru helps people move into these zones of discomfort and discover how they can use their unique rest-work-life rhythms to live and lead with purpose and passion. When you are ready to live and lead proactively, visit her website for more information: coachmyreset.com
