Work-life balance is a myth. Different areas of our life need different amounts of time. And no, we can’t have it all at once. But we can use it as a framework to set our priorities. The framework I use is the 5 buckets method.

We have 5 buckets, each representing a different area of our life. These include health, family, friends, work, and hobbies.

Now, imagine a hose filling those buckets. We have a limited supply of water to share. The water represents our time and energy. Analogously, work-life balance is how we divide our limited time into each life area.

Is Work-Life Balance Necessary?

Whether we strive for balance depends on our goals. If we want to be the best, then no. We are competing with individuals who will devote everything. To keep up, we must do the same. But, if our aim is a rich life, then balance is desirable.

Why Work-Life Balance is Important

Work-Life Balance is a Useful Framework for Prioritizing

We can’t set priorities without defining our life areas. The five bucket model defines those components, allowing us to rank their importance.

Work-Life Balance Forces us to Consider Opportunity Cost

Opportunity cost refers to the benefits we miss by engaging in another activity. For example, the opportunity cost of going to college is all the other possible activities we could do and the wages we could earn. Every action has an opportunity cost.

By prioritizing our life, we notice that trade-offs are necessary. It’s good to realize this, as it prompts us to consider consequences on a deeper level. We’ll better inspect our options and make reasoned decisions.

Society Favors Unbalance

Our culture obsesses over materialism and productivity. It’s easy to fall into this frame of mind. This isn’t inherently bad, but it is the reality.

Nobody will force us to be balanced, as there is no incentive. We must create those pressures.

How to Prioritize?

Remove Time-Wasters

Remove everything that doesn’t contribute to the 5 buckets. These are time-wasters. Think of them as holes in our buckets, causing them to leak. Time-wasters will vary depending on our priorities.

Use Constraints

Set strict time limits for each bucket and work backward, being as efficient as possible. If you work 40 hours a week, ask yourself, how can I be the most productive in those 40 hours? What activities are the most important?

The benefit of the constraint approach is it emphasizes using the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 rule is the observation that about 80% of a result is because of around 20% of the causes.

Find the activities that yield the best results and ruthlessly eliminate the rest.

Automate and Outsource

This approach involves automating and outsourcing our buckets. Business owners outsource by hiring employees. They can either double down on their career or spend time in other areas.

Automating and outsourcing create time independence. Our bucket works on its own.

Automating and outsourcing are also useful for urgent, non-important activities. For example, cooking and cleaning don’t contribute to the life buckets. But, they are essential activities. This is a perfect instance to outsource.

Many fear that outsourcing leads to a lower quality result. This is often not the case. A specialist has likely had more time to perfect their craft than us.

let’s say we’re moderately better than them. Isn’t a slight downgrade in value worth 100% of the time it takes? I’ve felt this fear; it’s a result of not wanting to lose control. However, relinquishing control allows us to focus on the key areas.

Outsourcing and automating have one major flaw: price. It’s expensive to hire help.

Integrate

The integration approach involves overlapping the different areas of our life.

Think of a family-owned business. Family members work together, so they are contributing to the work and family buckets. Or, take working out with our friends. We’re mixing the friends and health buckets. It’s like the buckets are sharing water, improving their efficiency.

This approach could lead to being less effective. Different buckets have different priorities that don’t always mix well. Turning a hobby into an income source might kill our enjoyment. Or, working with family might create tension.

We should be upfront with the goal of the activity. If we’re working with family, we should be honest with our expectations. If we’re publishing our music, make enjoying the process the most important. The money should be extra.

Cycle Periods of Obsession

This approach is to alternate between phases of focus. During these cycles, we put most of our efforts into improving one bucket while maintaining the others. By putting all our energy into one area, we make better gains and maintain a higher baseline after the fact.

For example, take starting a business. In the beginning, we work 60-80+ hours a week. Then, as the business grows, we scale back our involvement. If done properly, we reach the point where the business runs itself. Now, we can maintain a higher baseline with less time.

The same applies to relationships. When moving to a new area, we might emphasize meeting new people. Once we find an excellent group, we can scale back and maintain those relationships.

If we desire significant progress, we need to be somewhat obsessed. As Scott H Young states “Almost everything meaningful is accomplished by a megalomaniac on a mission.”

There are a few caveats to cycling obsessions. One, we have to make sure we actually cycle our obsessions. My fellow workaholics understand how easy it is to get swept into a project and never stop working. We have to avoid this mentality to ensure long-term balance.

Two, we could die without living a balanced life. A young person could forgo having a family to focus on their business. Yet, we’re not guaranteed later. If a catastrophe occurs, we could miss out on living a full life.

Make a Plan

Whatever combination of approaches you use, set your priorities and make a plan. Create a calendar, and set up a review system to look over your priorities.

In your review, ask yourself,

• What has worked?
• What hasn’t worked?
• What I should change (if anything)?
• Do I want to re-prioritize?

I do this during my quarterly reviews, but the specifics don’t matter. Any time used to reflect on the direction of our life is valuable.

Set Your Priorities

While work-life balance is impossible, setting priorities isn’t. Find what matters to you most, and use the above strategies to achieve your goals.