THEthe work of the future will be liquid. The announcement has been made many times but it is still not clear what it means. Doubts increase if we talk about work-life balance and work-life integrationof “agile working” in which the classic nine-eighteen method has been set aside. But what does all this mean? And what are the actual consequences in everyone’s life? Let’s try to clarify.
Liquid work, from work-life balance to work-life integration: what it is
«The pandemic has completely changed the way we work. We have moved on from what is the work-life balance, a very simple model that clearly distinguishes private life from professional life keeping them in perfect balance, al work-life integration a much more complex idea in which the boundaries are no longer so clear, in which there is greater space for free time and one’s physical and mental well-being but at a certain price” explains the Dr. Delia Duccoli, EMDR psychotherapist Italy.
Wanting to give a definition of Work-Life Integrationthe University of California Haas School of Business he defined it as “An approach that creates greater synergies between all areas that are part of life: work, home, family, community, personal well-being and health”.
In practice, adequate work-life integration can generate satisfactions that are never just “work” or just “life”: a full awareness, first of all of oneself to create a new way of living that is constantly evolving and which leaves each person with the ability to self-determine and design their life according to their own purpose, based on priorities.
Work-life balance
The old model has been dismantled but obviously not for all activities: «There are still many who manage to maintain work-life balance as a model. Life and work continue to be two lines that continue in parallel, without ever meeting and compensating in their mutual satisfactions. The risk of this model is that one aspect takes too much precedence over the other, breaking the dynamic balance created. The risk that has amplified since emails and cell phones invaded our personal and working lives shifts the balance towards a pervasive presence of work with emails arriving at all hours and text messages that must be responded to in real time. The perception of never really being able to switch off from work increases».
How was it resolved? «Some companies have tried to give themselves rules of conduct. No emails on Saturdays and Sundays, maybe not even on Fridays, no meetings after 6pm, no text messages outside working hours.”
A new model, work-life integration
However, the years of the pandemic have put the traditional model to the test, which has crumbled for many, giving way to what experts call work-life integration. More complex than the previous one, the boundaries between private and professional life are much less marked: «Times and places become more indefinite, where the personal and professional blur. And all this represents a great charm, we have the possibility of keeping together the fundamental dimensions of our life, even choosing the times and places in which to work and live” explains the expert.
For example, you can work in the morning, take a break in the afternoon to deal with your life, and return to the PC in the evening: «There are a myriad of possibilities that respond to the complexity of the human beingwe have physical needs to move, to be in beautiful welcoming spaces, to have relationships, for cognitive, cultural and spiritual stimuli, I must not compartmentalize them, but let them flourish together”
But is it all pink and flowers? Not exactly.
The limits of work-life integration
The first major limit is the more onerous costs that companies have to bear in these cases. Not to mention those of the individuals themselves. «At a corporate level, every company must build career paths tailored to the individual, taking into account different individual needs, review objectives, manage flexibility and maintain a sense of equality and cohesion. While for the individual the big problem is the achievement of well-being itself.”
Wanting to feel better, be more calm and relaxed, have more time for yourself and your passions, as well as for your family, turns into a real goal. And as such it becomes stressful: «Attention to the well-being of the individual becomes a continuous demand for performance even outside of work. Do gym and yoga, parenting courses, take care of your diet, take care of your relationships, network, share on social media. The contours of how many hours I dedicate to work, to family, to physical fitness, to relationships, to self-care are blurring, but what is often missing is rest.”
We are so focused that we forget one fundamental thing: stop, be silent and rest. In fact, everything is transformed into an objective to be achieved and a goal to be overcome: in the end you are just tired and with a constant sense of inadequacy, as well as experiencing performance anxiety.
So how to do it? Starting from the fact that above all the work-life integration model is not suitable for everyone. Not only because it presupposes a change in culture and habits that should not be underestimated but because, as the expert specifies, nIt also requires stability in one’s life and self-esteem, aspects that cannot be taken for granted for everyone.
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