Work-Life Balance. A Paradox?
We all want balance, security, and happiness in our lives. Is there such a thing? Let’s discuss!
An off-schedule post
Periodically, I’ll read or run across something that I think you will find interesting that does not fit into my regular Tuesday morning post schedule, and I’ll post it off-schedule. This discussion of work-life balance is one of those times.
The paradox of work-life balance
When you take the Afterburner Success Partners course, there is extensive discussion about the importance of work-life balance, security, and peace of mind as we work toward financial freedom and seek to, what?… Achieve our dreams and live our best lives! During the course, I contemplate whether I ever achieved these things during my working career. As was often the case with us Boomers, we sacrificed our own work-life balance, thinking we were really doing it for our families. I don’t know, it’s just what we did. Regardless, I believe proper work-life balance is something that is worthwhile not only for our individual health and well-being, but for our family. And our employer. Yes, I do believe that! Let’s dig a little deeper!
Is work-life balance overrated?
The July 9, 2025 issue of The Wall Street Journal (wsj.com) has a fascinating article entitled Think Work-Life Balance Is Overrated? You’re Hired! The author explores several different companies, job search candidates, and their views on work-life balance. The article suggests, at least for some professions, that work-life balance may not exist, and 60, 70, 80, and even 100 hour work weeks are the norm in some occupations. While the article details a few such professions, such as start-ups, software development, and the healthcare marketplace, there are other career fields where a work-life balance is questionable as well. I’d like to discuss these further, along with some professions where there may still be work-life balance, and then ask you for your thoughts. But first, let’s discuss how we got to this point.
Back in the day…
Back in the day…A term I’m using to describe the period before the COVID-19 pandemic, 2019, and earlier, for the most part, the high hand (a poker reference) generally belonged to the employer. That is, the employer set the rules, and if you wanted to work there, you accepted the rules they offered. For all my career, from the late 1970s until I retired in 2019, it was this way.
Now, I could go back further and discuss the 1800s sweatshops, the rise of the labor movement, and such, but that’s not my purpose, and none of us who are alive would remember it anyway. Good companies have always, and still do, recognize an inescapable fact that is often forgotten: employees are the most valuable assets of any company. Period, end of conversation, regardless of what you hear from anyone in the finance department looking to cut costs. Terms such as “burden”, “unnecessary resource”, and “excessive headcount” (I absolutely HATE when I hear employees described as “headcount,” like people are not important) downplay the importance of employees. Now, it goes without saying that it is the job of leadership to ensure they have the correct mix of talented employees in the correct numbers, doing the right work, to operate the business such that it is profitable, efficient, and brings value to society and shareholders. This is not what I’m talking about.
What I am talking about is that over a long period of time, companies grew to understand that good employees were valuable assets. These companies incorporated pay and benefit packages to attract and retain the best employees who performed at a high level, and made the company, and if the company was public, the shareholders, profit. In my mind, that’s how it should be. Profitable companies are a good thing! Regardless of what you hear from some others. As I recollect, in about the 1980s, things began to change. In my view, the adoption of the 401(k) retirement plan, well-intended as it was to help those without retirement benefits, marked the beginning of a gradual erosion in employee benefits. Many of the benefit packages offered to employees at that time were a result of the labor movement. Interestingly, the labor movement benefited not only those who were union members, but also others within companies represented by unions, and even those who were not who desired to remain competitive, who enjoyed riding the coattails of those union agreements. The first benefit to go was the defined benefit pension plan, conveniently replaced by the 401(k). Retiree medical benefits followed, then generous vacation, and reduced medical coverage. Perhaps it was somewhere during this time that we were expected to work more as well. If you’re a certain age, like me, you were in the workforce and witnessed this all unfold. Perhaps things got out of whack, and benefits were too generous and unaffordable. Still, as I entered the job market, all I saw was a slow erosion of benefits and more of a burden placed upon the employee’s shoulders. Lifelong employment, which included taking care of employees through retirement, like my parents enjoyed, was becoming a thing of the past.
Places where work-life balance does not, and may never, exist
There are certain professions where work-life balance may never exist. At least as many mainstream folks define work-life balance. On the opposite end are people who have the idea that we work only to live, that is, to put in the minimal time (less than what we would consider a healthy work-life balance) and effort so that we can live the rest of our lives as we wish to. I’m guessing there may be some folks who can do this, who decide to live frugally, who may be trust fund recipients or otherwise have enough wealth to do so. When I was 18, I worked with a guy at K-Mart who was a trust fund child. Have you ever seen an 18-year-old drive a new Lincoln Continental? Well, he did, and he worked in our toy department, not because he had to, but because he enjoyed the camaraderie of those he worked with and the customers. K-Mart was a great place to work, and we had a lot of teenagers who worked there who were part-time, like me. Many of us went out together on the weekends, and we had a softball team that played the other (nine, I think) K-Marts in the Washington, DC area on Sunday evenings after the store closed. We would then go out for pizza, and we all had such a great time.
Then, to the other extreme, there are those who either work to live or find themselves in professions where the bulk of their life revolves around work. I’m talking about doctors in residency who typically work an excess of 80-hour work weeks. At one time, they averaged 100 hours a week, but, thankfully, have generally backed off from that. Hedge fund managers, merger and acquisition (M&A) bankers, and consultants work these kinds of hours. Many IT folks work like this. As do startup companies or those starting their own business. Heck, small business owners work like this every day as a matter of routine. Some in the corporate world work this much. I often worked 60 hours a week or more, although the stated norm was 50 hours. How about folks in the military? Yeah, be accepted to Ranger school, like my nephew, go on a Navy cruise, or be part of a deployment during a national crisis. I routinely worked 12 hours in the Air Force, and we were in peacetime! Those taking part in the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement typically work like this. There are many others, and I’m sure you can think of a few.
To be fair, many people enjoy the work itself or the rewards that come with a schedule like this, making it the norm for them. And you know what? If it works for them, I say good for them. And when we see these folks enjoying the rewards of their sacrifice, what do we think? Are we happy for them, content knowing they are enjoying the fruits of their labor? Or are we, like a lot of people today, jealous, even blaming “the rich” for all our problems? Yeah, don’t get me started. I’m happy for those folks, and while I chose to make my sacrifices, I did not do it to the extreme that many did or are doing.
Oh, and lest I forget, mothers don’t have work-life balance. Never had, never will. In particular, if they choose to, or for economic reasons must, work outside the home. Thank you, Mom, for your sacrifices!
Some places do have work-life balance
Of course, there are jobs that do have a work-balance. I could name them off, but of course, as soon as I did, someone would say, “Well, Dave, you are crazy; I’m not that way, I work hard and I work a lot!” I guess I could generalize and say that folks who are represented by a union or perhaps government workers would be the most likely. However, growing up in the Washington, DC area, I knew many government workers who worked a lot. And many union workers chose to work overtime, or even have gig, part-time, or even full-time employment in addition to their primary career position. Two-income families, depending upon their jobs, may fit this bill, but two-income families with children are busy folks. The guy who cuts my daughter’s lawn has a primary job where he works the midnight shift and has a lawn service business, employing several people, during the day. He sleeps a few hours in the late afternoon and evening before starting it all over again. I happen to know quite a few like this. I’m sure he is getting rich. Or perhaps his spending is such that he needs to work like this.
Of course, there is always my ultimate desire for my dream career job: I always wanted to be the guy who puts out the umbrellas on the beach in the morning and then takes them down in the afternoon. Yeah, that’s the job I always wanted! You may wonder if these folks who have a work-life balance really can achieve their dream and live their best life. Well, I have an opinion about that. I know that surprises you, but I do. A significant portion of the population dislikes their job and will never achieve the happiness we all seek. Until they realize they need to take action and make an effort, no one can help them, and they will not change. On the other hand, some people with excellent work-life balance can achieve their dreams and live their best lives. See, these folks have landed in a position with outstanding benefits and can live below their means, enjoying the ride and knowing that someday their frugality and investment style will pay off. Is this the sweet spot? Perhaps it is. Referring again to our two-income couple, if they are frugal and can live off one income, then work-life balance and financial freedom are a very likely outcome.
Then came the year 2020
When the pandemic struck in early 2020 and everyone stayed home, the government stepped in to provide an infusion of cash to employees who, through no fault of their own, were forced to stay home and could not work. Gradually, some people, generally knowledge workers, were able to complete their work without coming into the office, and thus, the work-from-home (WFH) movement started. People appreciated receiving government money without needing to work, or perhaps it supplemented their WFH job, and they benefited significantly. Employers struggled to stay in business. Many could not and failed. The pendulum swung quickly and violently in favor of employees, who could now set their salaries and conditions to which they would agree to work. They had the upper hand, at least for a while.
…and that brings us to today…
Then the pandemic ended. Companies decided they may have hired too many people during the pandemic; they wanted employees to come back into the office, and the pendulum swung back in the direction of the employers. Let me say, crashed against the opposite stop. The stock market bear market of 2022, rising interest rates, increasing home prices, even the lack of availability of homes for sale, the end of government subsidies, and increasing inflation did not help employees either. Yes, control was firmly back in the employers’ hands. And, in some industries and companies, the requirement to work for them is that they work a lot of long hours. Or go somewhere else. Folks who may have enjoyed a break during the pandemic find themselves faced with difficult decisions in 2025. I know, I see these folks weekly when I volunteer, helping them get back into the work world.
So, what does that mean for me?
Well, the answer is, it depends. I could go into all the details, the pros and cons, of work-life balance, like I do during the Afterburner Success Partners course. What I’m going to do, however, is just end it here. Now, if you feel like I shut it all down and the conversation is incomplete, I say to you simply this: If you are happy in your job and your lifestyle, no matter how much you work, then God bless you, you are truly fortunate. If you are not satisfied, and, as they say, “healthy, wealthy, and wise,” then I invite you to admit it and make the efforts to change. Nothing happens until we desire to change and then take intentional effort to do so. Perhaps take the course. That’s why I developed it in the first place, why I post these blogs, and while I wrote my book (in final editing as I write this!). So you can figure out what you really want and…Achieve your dreams and live your best life! And that, my friends, is all I have for today!
Now, it’s your turn. What’s your opinion?
What’s in it for me?
Are you happy in your chosen profession? Do you have a work-life balance or not? If you do not, and you are not satisfied, then admit it and make the change you need to. That decision alone will get you started so that you can be all you can be!
Call to Action
Think long and hard about your work-life balance. Take action if you need to.
Recommended Resources
Today’s post was inspired by an article in the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ is a recommended resource on my website, as the information contained in this newspaper is invaluable to anyone seeking to be informed and get ahead. Be sure to subscribe and read this paper, either physically or digitally.
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Notes
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