Generation X's Way to Maintain The Work-Life Balance

Have you ever heard of the phrase 'Work-Life Balance'? If not, what do you think it is? The balance between daily life and career life? If you already know what Work-Life Balance is, what do you think are the positive and negative impacts that Work-Life Balance can have? Then, how do you do it? And what obstacles did you experience and how did you deal with them? 

If you have got the answers to all the questions I have asked before, have you ever thought about 'Do people from different generations have something in common in how they handle Work-Life Balance?' 

If you are curious and want to know the answer to that question, read this article further to find out how Generation X maintain their Work-Life Balance and you will receive new insights from different generations in dealing with Work-Life Balance.

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Before diving into the topic further, we must know the meaning of Work-Life Balance itself. According to (Riandani, 2020), Work-Life Balance is the ability of a person to balance responsibilities and time at work and things that are not related to work. 

In addition to citing the definition of Work-Life Balance from an expert, the author also asked the two sources about the definition of Work-Life Balance. According to Furi Atmaja, Work-Life Balance is a balance between work and the daily life of each person. While according to Riana Andharsari, Work-Life Balance is a person's ability to fulfill her responsibilities either as an employee in a company or as a housewife in her family.

As previously explained, Work-Life Balance is a very important aspect in everyone's life because it involves their responsibilities. Therefore, of course, Work-Life Balance has a positive impact as well as a negative impact if it is carried out properly or even left alone.

 The positive impact that can be felt by someone who runs Work-Life Balance well is that their productivity and creativity will increase (Sekarningrum, 2022). They will also be happier and avoid stress so that their body and spirit will also be healthy. 

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In addition, the relationship they have with their family, relatives, and co-workers are getting better. They also have a lot of time and energy for activities other than work, such as doing hobbies, exercising, joining communities, and even taking walks (Riandani, 2020).

It is different if someone ignores their Work-Life Balance for granted, the negative impact they might feel is their productivity and health will decrease. They must also feel physically and mentally exhausted which results in a lack of focus at work so that their performance decreases. They also have the possibility of developing diseases such as stress, diabetes, heart disease, memory disorders, sleep disorders, and even depression (Riandani, 2020). Not only that, they will also feel that work interferes with their family life and vice versa (Admin LinovHR, 2018).

Riana Andharsari also has an opinion regarding the negative impact that a person can feel if they do not carry out Work-Life Balance properly. She argues that there will be one party who does not get the rights that they should get. For example, if a housewife is more focused on her work, her life or responsibilities in the family will be reduced or even neglected.

In addition, Furi Atmaja also added that if someone does not do Work-Life Balance, then they can experience stress and even get sick. Therefore, Furi also advised that a person must be balanced in living their daily life and work life.

After asking the two sources for the definition and impact of Work-Life Balance, the author also asked them about examples of implementing Work-Life Balance. Furi Atmaja said that an example of implementing Work-Life Balance is that a person's life must be balanced between work and their concern for their health so that one's life must be accompanied by regular exercise. 

In contrast to Furi's answer, Riana Andharsari answered with an answer that leans towards household responsibilities. "One example is a housewife who also works as a career woman in a company or as a freelancer," answered Riana in an interview that was conducted.

Apart from the simple examples that have been mentioned, the two resource persons shared their respective experiences in implementing Work-Life Balance. Riana Andharsari believes that she has lived a Work-Life Balance by being smart about dividing her time between doing office work and being responsible as a housewife. 

"If I was at home, I would not do work related to office work at home. And vice versa, when I do work in the office, I will not or at least not be affected by umm... things related to problems at home," explained Riana. In carrying out Work-Life Balance, Furi Atmaja also feels confident that he has done it well.

He always makes time to pray, eat, and rest during his work breaks at the office. He is also diligent in participating in sports activities organized every week by his neighbors at home or even with his co-workers from the office. Not only that, but on weekends, he also always invites his family for recreation both at home and outside the home, such as playing and traveling to certain places.

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Even though they seem so confident and easy in living a Work-Life Balance life, Furi Atmaja and Riana Andharsari also admit that they often find it difficult to balance a Work-Life Balance life. The difficulty experienced by Furi is related to the clash of family event schedules with activities in the neighborhood or office environment.

Therefore, he had to choose one and he put his family first because, for him, he worked for his family. Riana also experienced difficulties, but the difficulties she experienced were when her children were still young, especially when they were sick. She will always remember the health of her child at home, which makes her more concerned with the health of the child so that it sometimes affects the results of her work in the office.

The many difficulties and obstacles they experience in living a Work-Life Balance life do not stop them. Instead, they look for ways to get out of the trapping situation, even though sometimes they have to give up one party. Riana Andharsari's way of dealing with the difficulties she mentioned earlier was that she had to apply for temporary leave from the company to give full attention to the health of her sick children at home. 

Behind her decision-making, indirectly she also benefits the company because the company will not accept Riana's work which is not optimal because her mind is less focused on work when thinking about her sick child. Furi Atmaja's way of dealing with his difficulties is almost the same as Riana's method, which is that they both have to give up one party. 

When dealing with the difficulties that Furi had mentioned earlier, he would put his family first. When there is a family event that is more important than an office event, then he will permit his boss. If there is a neighborhood agenda that cannot be attended to because he puts his family first, he will permit the head of his neighborhood.

From the explanation above, it can be concluded that Work-Life Balance is a person's ability to balance their professional life and their daily life. The positive impacts given by Work-Life Balance are increasing productivity, creativity, and even one's health. 

Meanwhile, the negative impacts that can be caused if a person is not optimal in living his Work-Life Balance life are stress, susceptible to disease, and often unfocused. The main problem that is often found when balancing Work-Life Balance is between problems in the family and problems at work. Therefore, the way to handle it is to focus on the more important things first and let go of one of the parties for a while.

So, after reading this article, do you find similar Work-Life Balance problems and similar ways to handle them between Generation X and your generation?