By Dr Gitanjali Natarajan

With the rise of remote work and flexible timings, boundaries between personal life and professional responsibilities are blurred. Several factors such as personality traits, work demands, family dynamics, and coping strategies may determine if there are more of positive or negative effects due to such blurring of boundaries.

Increased flexibility in managing both personal and professional obligations, better productivity, fewer disruptions from commuting or office distractions are some positive aspects of remote working and flexible timings. However, there is a flip side to it too.

Jothsna has been working from home since the Covid lockdown. Initially she found she could save time, take breaks in between and manage chores flexibly. However, as time went by, she found herself being called frequently to manage home responsibilities such as feeding the child who was refusing to have food from the nanny, looking at who is at the door and
even joining relatives who drop by. He mother-in-law would go to her relative’s house for a couple of days now that Jothsna was at home.

When the work and home domains intersect, it can be challenging to maintain work-life balance. Individuals find it difficult to disconnect from work-related tasks, resulting in a constant “on call” feeling and difficulty unwinding. Meetings late in the day also eat into personal time. Having to attend to family matters during work hours or feeling pressured to complete work responsibilities while at home, causes stress and tension due to role conflict.

Impact of Work-life struggles

Burnout is a potential risk when home and work collide. When the line between work and personal life are blurred, it becomes challenging to disengage from work-related interferences even while at home. The leads to emotional exhaustion and decreased job satisfaction. Over time it can affect their physical and psychological wellbeing. It manifests in different forms such as poor time management, role conflict, neglect of significant relationships, social isolation, poor self-care, exhaustion, irritability, guilt feelings.

These struggles might require individuals to make sacrifice in both their career and home front. They may feel forced to turn down opportunities for promotion or career advancement in favour of prioritizing home responsibilities. Relationships also suffer due to limited time spent and frequent delays or cancellations in social engagements, leaving tension and conflict in personal relationships. Feeling of not being able to do justice to either home, work or oneself in spite of being constantly on one’s toes, start draining the person over time.

Professions with highest work-life imbalance

Some professions known for maximum work-life imbalance due to demanding work schedules, long hours, and high levels of stress are

  • Healthcare professionals with long hours of work, irregular shifts and weekend duty.
  • IT professionals with tight project deadlines, on-call responsibilities, and the expectation to be updated on current innovation.
  • Media and Entertainment careers of journalists, producers and actors involve unpredictable schedules, and pressure to be accessible at all times.
  • Entrepreneurs and Startup founders need to work long hours, multitask and handle various job roles for building and developing their business
  • Emergency service professionals such as police, firefighters, paramedics have to do night shifts and be available for emergency response round the clock.
  • Investment banking and finance professionals face competition and fast-paced work, with constantly trying to meet client demands and deadlines.

Personality predispositions

Though job demands, organizational culture, and personal circumstances may influence work-life imbalance, certain personality traits may predispose individuals to experiencing more work-life imbalance.

Type A Personality tend to be ambitious, competitive and achievement -oriented, prioritizing professional goals over personal wellbeing.

Perfectionists have high standards for themselves, struggle to delegate tasks and strive to excel in all areas of their lives.

Workaholics have difficulty disconnecting from work, even during non-work hours as they derive their sense of identity and self-worth from professional success

People-Pleasers have difficulty asserting their boundaries and agree to excessive workload and additional responsibilities due to their strong desire to please others.

Highly Engaged professionals passionate and involved in their work have difficulty disconnecting from work, eventually leading to neglect of personal life.

How to manage

Managing work-life struggles effectively requires a proactive and holistic approach that suits that particular individual’s context. And it has to be initiated by the person themselves. If not, it could end up appearing like nagging by family members.

  • Establish clear boundaries between work and personal life by defining work and non-work time. Communicate it to colleagues, supervisors and family members to ensure that personal time is respected and intrusions minimized.
  • Prioritize and delegate tasks so that high priority tasks are completed and one does not end up trying to do all tasks by oneself.
  • Be assertive in saying no to additional work and avoid overcommitting yourself so that your wellbeing is not compromised leading to burnout and exhaustion.
  • Maintain open communication with your employer, colleagues, and family members about your work-life balance needs and concerns. This ensures that others are able to understand and support you.
  • Utilize technology wisely to streamline work processes, stay organized and facilitate communication, without technology encroaching into personal time.
  • Practise mindfulness and self care to cultivate present moment awareness and to engage in activities that rejuvenate and recharge you.

Maintaining effective work-life balance promotes greater quality of life, resilience, and fulfilment in both professional and personal domains. However, it is an ongoing commitment based on each individual’s priorities, life goals and values.

(The author is a Clinical Psychology – Director at Niyama Digital Mental Healthcare. Views expressed are personal and do not reflect the official position or policy of the FinancialExpress.com.)