Achieving work / life balance is commonly a goal most of us are told to strive towards. Like climbing a mountain, once on the top, a sense of accomplishment, possibly even fulfillment, awaits. Certainly, the concept of “balance” is welcoming and conjures up a picture of the harmony that exists when both sides of the scale are perfectly even and almost ethereal.

But, how long will that last? 

How long will our job and its responsibilities on one side of the scale remain in balance with the other side of the scale represented by your personal life and passions? 

As we all know, life is not static and the reality is that, for most of us, the moment we achieve “balance” will be immediately followed by a period of time requiring another titration of the scale. Some days, we all know that work can spill over and other days we know that life events must take priority. I have found that trying to chase the goal of work/life balance is not only elusive but also facilitates thoughts of guilt, frustration, and even burnout.

Because life is dynamic and ever-changing, a mindset of synergy can replace balance easily. Rather than examining work and life as two separate and opposing forces, we should treat work and life as interconnected dimensions of our life that not cannot be separated but must co-exist in a way to support and enhance each other.

What’s the difference between balance and synergy?

Balance requires separation or a clear divide between what you and who you are. The saying, TGIF or Thank God It’s Friday applies here, where we survive the work week in order to finally live on the weekend. 

Synergy requires integration and finding a dynamic rhythm where what you do enriches who you are and who you are energizes what you do. Synergy removes the metric of time and instead focusses on meaningful alignment of your life energy.

Why choose Synergy?

In today’s fast-paced world where technology, remote work and passion projects blur the lines of what is “work” and what is “life,” the concept of balance is becoming outdated. 

The path of synergy is more realistic and achievable allowing a parent to take a mid-day break in order to attend a child’s recital or a doctor to take a phone call from a patient after dinner. 

Allowing these moments to coexist rather than compete can be an easier path to fulfillment and purpose.

How to create work/life synergy?

Here are some simple steps you can take to create work/life synergy:

1. Define “success”
Success means different things to different people. Ask yourself, what do I want in life? This requires honesty and a recognition that the answer is not based on what you should want out of life. What honestly brings you energy?

2. Find ways to integrate work and life
You should purposefully look for ways to bring your work and your life together. For example, if you enjoy exercising, is there an opportunity to take a walk during lunch to boost your daily steps or some co-workers that are into nutrition that you can learn or mentor? The closer you can marry your work to your life and personal values, the more seamless achieving synergy will become.

3. Be Flexible
Sometimes the best ideas come when you least expect them! Those moments of becoming a spontaneous genius can happen to all of us but we have to be in the moment in order to bring them into our conscious mind. Isaac Newton couldn’t have predicted that while sitting under an apple tree and observing an apple falling that it would lead him to the concept of gravity and the laws of motion!

4. Be Transparent
It is ok to not have all the answers. Believe it or not, it is also ok to not have the resources you need in order to complete a task. What is not ok is for you to stay silent about it. Synergy thrives in environments of trust, autonomy, and effective and honest communication.

5. Focus
You don’t have to do it all but what you do you should do very well. Politely declining an activity that dilutes your attention on what really matters is an ability to enhance your energy and make contributions that can't be missed.

Real-life example

I remember when my son first got into puzzles and I brought home a new puzzle that had a shiny red sports car on the box. My son was excited (and so was I)! After I spilled all the pieces on the floor, I was surprised to look up and find him with no smile. He picked up an oddly-shaped piece and then innocently said, “This is not a car.” I explained that the car would only be complete after we put all the pieces together, even the oddly shaped ones.

This is what work/life synergy is all about. 

Our work, our family, our hobbies, our passions are all pieces of the same puzzle. Some pieces don’t make sense in isolation and it’s only when we bring those pieces together that we can make more sense out of all of the dimensions of our life. 

So, the real question isn’t how do I balance work and life, but how do I build a situation where my work and life are working together?

Each of us is one person, and no matter how much we might try, we cannot split ourselves into two people. Yes, we have different responsibilities within the different dimensions of our life that require different approaches, but each of us is one life. 

Living that one, authentic life in a way that facilitates your ability to blend your passions, priorities, and profession in order to find purpose is at the heart of work/life synergy.

Roger Kapoor, MD, author of Working Happy, is the senior executive vice president of Beloit Health System in Beloit, Wisconsin, a community-based nonprofit hospital with approximately 23 service locations. A Harvard-trained dermatologist, he holds an MBA from Oxford University in England and has authored numerous peer-reviewed scientific articles published in professional journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine. He was the recipient of the Wisconsin Medical Society’s Kenneth M. Viste Young Physician Leader of the Year Award, named by Modern Healthcare as one of the top 25 Emerging Leaders in Healthcare, and highlighted as a Rising Star by Becker’s Hospital Review.

Find him online at https://rogerkapoor.com/ and https://www.linkedin.com/in/roger-kapoor/

His book, Working Happy! How to Survive Burnout and Find Your Work/Life Synergy in the Healthcare Industry, offers fresh insights and new solutions to the growing problem of workplace and career burnout–offering a novel, hands-on approach to tackling the core causes: workplace environment and personal attitude/behavior. This essential read is perfect for anyone looking to find greater satisfaction in their current job, considering a career shift. 

Dr. Kapoor’s innovative methods guide readers in uncovering their true purpose in both their professional and personal lives. By exploring concepts such as emotional resilience and ikigai (or "life value"), the book empowers individuals to pinpoint and resolve the sources of their stress and prevent burnout from taking root. 

With Kapoor’s transformative insights, the book will help you set reasonable and realistic goals for yourself in order to achieve a positive and rewarding work/life synergy. What does that mean? It’s not about achieving a work/life balance, where work and personal life are kept separate like two opposing weights on a scale. Synergy is the interaction and cooperation of work and life, creating a combined effect that is greater than the sum of their individual parts. Your work and your life can not only exist in harmony, but enhance both dimensions of your life.