On the suggestion (constant badgering) of a friend, I read a great book in one sitting last week – “It doesn’t have to be crazy at work” – and can’t recommend it highly enough. Every page has a nugget of gold and whilst the approach to business may not be for everyone, you can’t help but take some (or many) of those nuggets away with you.
I love their approach to work and one of my favourites quotes relates to work-life balance:
“If it’s easier for work to claim a Sunday than for life to borrow a Thursday, there ain’t no balance.“
How perfect is that? Wholeheartedly agree.
Inevitably there will be times when work just can’t flex around life – big projects, pressing deadlines, crisis management – and that’s OK. But the rest of the time, it should.
So, if work can take an evening, or a weekend, then when it’s a sunny day, you should be able to enjoy it too. If an employee wants to take the kids to Alton Towers on a weekday, can they do so without having to work on the journey there? If not, why not? Where’s the balance? It really doesn’t have to be crazy at work.
Read next: Home working (and enjoying it): a practical guide
Acknowledgements
It doesn’t have to be crazy at work, by David Heinemeier Hansson (author) Jason Fried (author)
