The vast majority of bloggers do it part time.  Whether they’re running a hosted blog on Wordpress.com or Blogger, or running a self-hosted blog like this one, chances are the person who’s words you’re reading is doing this on the side.

For those concerned with living a balanced life and interested in starting a blog, how does this work?  Where do the bloggers find the time to write or maintain their blog?  Where do they actually write?  Where do they find ideas and inspiration?

If you’ve asked yourself these questions, here are a few tips to get you going.

When

This can be one of the biggest questions a new blogger will have.  “When do I find the time to write X posts per week?”

There are actually two questions in the phrase above.

The first is how often should you be posting?

This isn’t an easy question to answer, as it’s dependent upon a number of factors, including your topic and how much time you’re willing and able to devote to blogging.

To go into these is outside the scope of this post, but for more detail, check out these great posts at ProBlogger. (As an aside, ProBlogger is a great resource for any starting blogger.  If you’ve got the time, I’d highly recommend you check it out.)

Now, onto the second question.  When do I find the time to write?

Not knowing the intricate details of your life, I can’t give you answers like, “You know when you have that ten-minute break while your kettle is boiling and tea is steeping?  Yeah, write then.”  But what I can do is share when I write, and you can perhaps draw a few parallels to your own life.

For me, there’s a few times when I seem to get more time to write.  Of late, the big one has been lunch.  Whether I’m sitting at my desk at work, or out getting a bite somewhere else, this is a great chance to take thirty minutes and hammer out some ideas.

Another time I find myself writing is first thing in the morning.  I’m usually up around 5:30AM, and after I’ve done a few things, (fed the dog, made sure I was ready to go for the day, etc.) I usually have a few minutes of uninterrupted time to get some writing done.

I’ll also sometimes take larger blocks of time in the evening or on the weekend, but I find for me that is better used for other tasks.  It might be blog design, or working on a series of posts,  or making sure my Wordpress installation is up to date.

The key is to look at where you might just be whiling away a few hours.  Taking fifteen or thirty minutes a day doesn’t seem huge, but if you add that up you’re looking at one to three hours a week.

Where

Many people think that if you’re going to run a blog, you need near constant access to a computer and the web.  While this will be affected by how often you’re looking to post, I’d say that’s really not true.

While it comprises of many things, at its core, blogging is a channel for the distribution of writing.  So if you’re trying to find time to blog, a large part of the equation is really finding time to write.  As we’ve probably all been writing for at least a few years now, I’ll assume we’re aware that we can do it pretty much anywhere.

If I’ve got a pen and paper I can be working on a blog post wherever I happen to be.  In fact, this is the way a lot of my posts start.  Whether it’s a mind map, point form notes, or the full post, a pen has been one of my most important blogging tools.

When it comes time to actually post your writing, even then you’ve got options  If you’ve got access to the internet, you can pretty much access your blog software, whether it’s at an internet cafe, a kiosk in an airport, or from the comfort of your own home.

If you add in the fact that a lot of blogging software allows posting through email, then you can be easily posting from a BlackBerry or smartphone.  Heck, Wordpress has even launched iPhone software.

So while the where is a consideration, it’s really not as limiting as you might think.

What

This is the other big challenge for a blogger.  I remember when I first started LiveWorkBalance, I wondered if I’d have enough to write about.  I mean, it’s a topic I’m interested in, but how long can I talk?

Well, over 100 posts later, I’m still finding things to say.  They key to the what is to always be learning, and in many cases on more than just your core topic.  It’s through the new and interesting links you can make between your topic and your life experiences that you’ll discover your content.

I just read an interview with Penelope Trunk of Brazen Careerist, and I think she says it quite well:

Find a … topic and then write at the very edge of that topic. If you write in the center, that’s where everyone else is and it will be hard to present something that is unique. If you write at the edge, and throw in stuff not totally related to your topic area, then both you and your readers will find surprise in that intersection of the new stuff and your topic.

Being a lifelong learner can really help you in coming up with creative content, and the links you can make through blogging can provide lots of new channels for learning.

This what can also be a big balancing factor for your blog.  If you’re already trying to find balance, the knowledge, connections and relationships you can gain through blogging may open up channels you never thought possible, and can help you in reaching seemingly unrelated goals.

So is blogging for you? Maybe or maybe not.  But if you’ve been hesitant in starting one because of one of the reasons above, hopefully this will help you clarify things for you.

Already blogging?  If you’ve got tips for aspiring bloggers, please share them in the comments, or drop me an email at adam@liveworkbalance.com

Either way, a good next question is “Where do I start?”

With that in mind, I thought I’d share a few resources that I use whenever I’m looking for something.

Online

Wikipedia

Whether you’re looking for something specific, or maybe just whiling away some downtime with the Random Article button, Wikipedia can be a source for knowledge both common and obscure.

About.com

Another online source for information great and small, About.com goes into more depth on everyday topics, whether it’s wedding planning, traveling Europe, cooking, or learning a language.

MIT Online

For those looking for a more academic take on things, MIT has made a large amount of documentation and coursework available online.  While it’s not just technically focused, if you’ve always been interested in something like Electron Microprobe Analysis by Wavelength Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry, this is a great place to start.

Online Forums

If you read a website on a regular basis, see if there’s a forum or at least a comments section.  Reading through and participating in these discussions can be a great way to both share your ideas and pick up some new ones.

Offline

Your public library

I remember spending many a day at the local public library.  Whether I was picking out something to pass the time or researching for a school project, there is tonnes of info here if you need it.  Add in the fact that you can also grab CD’s and DVD’s at many libraries, and it can be a great source of knowledge.

Your local university or college

Many universities and colleges offer continuing education classes.  You might be interested in some basic accounting classes, or perhaps it’s chivalrous swordhandling that’s caught your fancy, but you’d be surprised what you can find to fill an evening a week.

Stores

This isn’t something many people would think of, but check to see if local retailers are offering anything.  Stores like Home Depot offer classes on many home improvement subjects, but even further, grocery stores will offer cooking classes, liquor stores may offer wine tasting courses, yoga clothing stores sometimes offer special classes for customers, and there’s lots of others.  You might be surprised what a store is willing to give away for cheap or free if they think it’ll get you in and maybe shopping.

Clubs

I don’t mean nightclubs, but rather groups of people sharing a common interest.  If you’ve got an interest in a topic or activity, from things like chess to children’s literature to collectible card games to the restoration of old cars, chances are someone else does too.  Meeting up with like minded people can be a great way to learn more about your interests, and can help you focus your learning in other areas.

These are just a few options as to where you might find some new information and ideas.  Do you have any suggestions for places that might help people in their quest to become a lifelong learner?  If so, please share them in the comments, I’m always interested in seeing what’s out there.

That’s all well and good, but empty platitudes are just that, empty, unless there is meaning behind this. So what does all this really mean?

Lifelong learning is a commitment to continually growing your knowledge and skills, regardless of what they may be. You could be learning how to cook or advanced calculus or the opinion of a trusted friend. It really doesn’t make a difference. What you learn is important, but that isn’t the big idea here. Rather, it’s the linkages that can be built.

For example, let’s look at cooking. You might go, “Hey, great, learning to cook is good, then I can eat well.” Sure, that’s true, if you do learn to cook well, you can open up a whole new world of culinary delight, able to eat dishes equal to any restaurant, but in the comfort of your home and at a fraction of the price.

But what about if we look at how else cooking might fit into our lives. Better nutrition, a new hobby, something to do with your friends and family. Maybe you’ll like it and want to start sharing it, so you’ll host dinner parties. Maybe you’ll start making new connections at these parties that’ll lead to new opportunities. Yes, I’ve taken the initial point kind of far, but that’s the true value in lifelong learning, it doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

Like the what, they where is equally unimportant. Maybe you’re taking classes at school, or perhaps you’re reading a few books, or maybe you’re just having an interesting conversation or debate with friends. Either way, there is knowledge everywhere we look, listen and exist.

This then comes down to the true meaning of lifelong learning. I mentioned above that it was a commitment one makes.

But a commitment to what?

To keeping an open mind. Try new things, see if they fit into your life. If they do, great. If you love them, but you can’t fit it in, then you can start to see where you might make changes to add them. Or maybe they’re not for you, but you’ve gained two things. One, the knowledge that it wasn’t for you at that time, and two, maybe there was still some knowledge that can be applied at some point in the future that isn’t readily apparent.

So next time you’re doing something, whether it be aimlessly browsing the web or flipping through a magazine, think about how this can connect with other parts of your life. You might be surprised about the difference it can make.

UPDATE: To help you on your way to becoming a lifelong learner, check out my article, 8 Resources for Lifelong Learning

A different type of business book

This book is different than a lot of other business books I’ve read.  Rather than a book written by a “guru” with a personal theory and a lot of anecdotes, this was written by two gentlemen from Gallup Research, based on interviews with thousands of managers in hundreds of companies.  There’s significant statistical data in the background, but the authors do a great job making the book readable.  They’re not presenting a lot of raw numbers, but rather, they used the results of their statistical analysis to delve deeper and gather the information that this pointed to.

Now, while the main focus of this book is to help someone become a better manager, I’d say this is not a book that is limited to that target audience.  Taking things a step farther, this is great for anyone in a work environment, whether you’re trying to think of better ways to “manage up”, or you’re an executive managing many managers.  But in fact, I’d take it a step farther, and say that there’s a lot from a personal standpoint that can be applied here as well.

3 keys to personal success

A big portion of the research is based around the concept that there are three things that dictate a person’s performance on the job: their knowledge, their skills, and their talents.  Knowledge and skills can be molded and taught through various means, but talents are innate patterns of repeated behaviour, in the work environment, to be applied in a productive manner.  That’s a key distinction, that while knowledge and skills are changeable and teachable, talents are much harder to change to any great degree.

The authors approach this revelation from the point of view of the aspiring great manager.  What would a great manager do to ensure maximum success.  They drill it down into for general ideas, which they clearly state are not a formula, but more of a general guidelines.  These ideas are: Choose the right people, focus on results, work to peoples’ strengths, not on their weaknesses, and find the right path for advancement, which isn’t always up.

Now, I’m sure those steps might seem pretty straightforward, but I’m equally sure we can all think of an example or two for each, right off the top of your head, where it hasn’t happened.

But how does this apply to personal development?

Look in the mirror

Well, it makes a few points that I think are great for anyone.  Primarily that it’s very important to continually “look at yourself in the mirror” and try to discover what your talents are, and focus on those strengths, for that’s the area where we can make the most impact.

Focus on your strengths

This continues to say that if you’re lacking a talent (say, empathizing with others), then even if you took every training course known to man, you’re not suddenly going to be the world’s greatest empathizer.  You might get a little better than you were, but you’ve basically spent a lot of time and effort on something where you potential for improvement is minimal.  However, if you focus on your strong talents, then you can truly become great in these areas, and leverage that greatness into success throughout your life.

The right next step isn’t always up

Another great point is where you should be developing in your career.  The usual business model states that if you want more money/prestige/benefits/etc. then you need to move up the ladder.  This leads to people being promoted to positions where their talents may no longer apply.  Just because someone is a great programmer doesn’t mean that they can manage other programmers.

Now, as we don’t necessarily control the pay structure of the companies we work at (though some may, keep this in mind), we can’t necessarily reward ourselves for being great at what we do.  But I do think that this should be taken as an advisement, maybe that next level promotion won’t actually be any better, because then we can’t do what we love and what we’re good at.  This can be especially important for those just starting your career.  Take a look around the company, and when talking to your manager, look for opportunities for advancement that may not be vertical if that’s not what you want.

Should I read this?

Self-awareness can be key in many areas, and finding a balancing point is one of them.  This book looks at things from a very different perspective than a lot of “productivity” books, but a lot of what it’s saying boils down to improving the awareness of yourself and others.  For that reason, I’d recommend it for pretty much anyone with a little time to read something interesting, whether you’re a manager or not.

Just had a minute to drop this link, as came across it this morning and had to share it.

I’ve been a fan of Leo Babauta’s writing for some time, so when he wrote a post in my area of interest, stating so easily what I’ve been working on for some time, well, I couldn’t resist.

So pop on over to Zen Habits, and check out Leo’s great post, summing up a big part of balance, namely finding what you love to do and finding ways to give you the time to do it.

And it’s been tough for me to get back into it. I mean, I enjoy writing, I find it cathartic and in general just a great way to work through ideas. I’ve enjoyed writing as long as I can remember, and it’s something I want to do more of. More posting on my blog, more commenting elsewhere, and I’d love to get back into writing fiction, which I really haven’t done since high school.

But I kept telling myself that I’ve been too busy. And as explained, I really was focused on other things, and rightfully so. But that led to the thought process that when the wedding was all wrapped up, I’d get right back into the swing of things, back to multiple posts a week, maybe finally get more than some ideas together for that fiction piece I wanted to write. I’d suddenly have all this time and writing would rush in to fill it, like milk rushing to fill in the new depression in your morning oatmeal.

As we can see, time has passed, and other than a quick post and a few notes here and there, the writing hasn’t come on strong. So that’s kind of led me to another realization, one that I’m sure many have had before, but bears repeating, even if only for my own benefit.

If you want to be a writer, you have to write.

If you want to be a blogger, you have to blog.

If you want to be a leader, you have lead.

(But wait, I wasn’t talking about leadership . . . or was I?)

See the pattern?

While I think Descartes had a pretty good idea, thinking doesn’t necessarily make you something, except maybe a thinker. If you really want to be something, you must complete the actions that make you that something. There are no (real) writers who don’t write. There are no bloggers who don’t blog, or leaders who don’t lead. These are all things that you become by doing.

So if there’s something you’ve always wanted to be, give it a shot! It doesn’t have to be a massive, life-changing event. You don’t have to quit your job and escape to a remote location with only a typewriter to be a writer, or escape to the nearest coffee shop with your flashy new laptop to be a blogger. You just have to write, or blog, or whatever. Take fifteen minutes a day and try it out. What’s the worst that can happen? I figure you maybe either find out that not only did you want to do it, but you actually have an aptitude for it, or maybe you discover that it wasn’t what you thought, and your goals change. But then you’ll never have to sit there and think that if only you’d given it a shot, maybe you could have written that best selling novel, or become the next Leo Babauta, or started that paradigm changing company.

Take this as a call to action. But remember, if you’ve only got a small amount of time to start with your actions, don’t waste it on extraneous tasks. If you’ve only got fifteen minutes a day to blog, don’t spend it tweaking your template, spend it writing. If you can only write for thirty minutes a day, don’t spend it all arranging your pencils or fixing the font or rewriting the opening sentence, just write.

What would you rather have, a beautiful but empty blog or a source for great content and engaging discussion? How about a perfectly crafted opening sentence sitting alone in a new Word document, or a three hundred page novel that needs a little editing?

That’s what I thought.

In the time I’ve had away from blogging, I recently read a book titled Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy.  No, it’s not about trying to become a less picky eater, but actually a collection of tips concerning ways to overcome procrastination and get more done.

It’s not a large book, the copy I read was a little over one hundred pages, breaking Tracy’s tips into 21 chapters, each focusing on one tip for four to six pages.

Mr. Tracy likens overcoming procrastination to doing something distasteful, in this case covered by the colourful metaphor of eating a nice, big, juicy frog.  This metaphor is carried throughout the book’s 21 short chapters, rounding out in a little over one hundred pages of tips and tricks.

Tracy does a very good job of keeping each tip short and succinct.  Each chapter starts with a quote, highlighting the central point, takes you through some examples and detail, and then wraps up with a nice summary box, distilling the chapter’s wisdom into ten lines of clear direction.

But what about the tips themselves, what do they cover?

Well, though there are 21 tips listed in this book, I will say that I felt some of them were almost duplicates of others.  Perhaps this was as a result of trying to keep everything so granular, but there are several tips in the book that I thought were either extensions of previous tips that should have been kept together, or actually seemed like almost the same tip, just stated in a different way.

Moving past that seeming duplication, the tips seem to fall into several general areas.  Namely, these are:

• Setting clear goals, outcomes, and deadlines
• Planning your projects and days in a granular fashion
• Rigidly prioritize your projects and actions
• Prepare your workspace and yourself
• Motivate yourself

These are largely the parts of most productivity systems, though Tracy does a good job of breaking them down and bringing them all together.  I thought he made some very good points about the importance of setting deadlines and really clarifying your goals and outcomes, as well as being clear about your strengths and weaknesses, to allow you to play to the former and improve the latter.

For those with balance issues, I thought that his comments on focusing your efforts where they’ll do the most good, as well as trying to get the distasteful tasks out of the way first are great places to start for those trying to get back on track.

However, I think the book does have a weakness that can unfortunately be seen in many personal productivity books, and that’s a tendency to ignore the everyday interactions with others that take place in the modern workplace.  The fixed plan for your entire day coupled with the rigid ABCDE priority model and the firewalling of large blocks of time can be difficult for most in today’s workspace.  Priorities are far more fluid, and in many cases, are influenced if not directly set, by others.  In an open cubicle environment, interruptions seem to be the norm when a large block of time opens up.

The bottom line - Is this book worth a read?

I thought that some of the tips here were presented in a great way for people to pick up quickly, especially if you haven’t done a lot of reading before.  In fact, for someone who’s swamped right now, this book, coupled with a bit of flexibility thrown in on the prioritization and planning aspects, perhaps a la GTD, is a great place to start.

So if you’re new to the field, I’d recommend giving this book a read.  Grab it at your local bookstore, Amazon, or your local library, and it shouldn’t take long.  I read it on my commute one day (on the bus, not driving), so it doesn’t take a lot of time to at least peruse it.  If you’ve done more reading in this area, you probably won’t see much that’s new, but it is in a format that’s quick and inviting, and can be a good review for anyone.

If you have any comments or questions, or have any other books you’d like me to take a look at, leave it in the comments section below, or drop me an email at adam@liveworkbalance.com.

To change, to evolve, to grow and improve the world around us, we usually rely upon the idealists among us to set the direction.

At most times, I find that I have an idealistic streak that seems to keep me optimistic, but of late, I find myself wondering more and more if it’s as positive a quality as I once thought.

We are in an environment where so much of the political process is negative.  Instead of people working together for change, striving to improve the live of their constituents, we have a system that basically focuses completely on obtaining, using and retaining power.  And it isn’t just the elections taking place (That’s right, there’s another North American election taking place right now too), but it just brings more attention to the kindergarten level actions that seem to take the place of our political processes these days.

We are in an environment where corporate training is fit in around fire fighting at companies in every industry in every country around the world.  An environment where the common expectation seems to be that the training will not change the environment in any way, but that things are the way they are.

We are in an environment where debate seems to revert to destructive arguments, or retreating to group ideaologies rather than a constructive debate about the ideas that each person stands for and holds to themselves.

So how does an idealist with realist tendencies (a propensity to play devil’s advocate in any and all situations) fit in in the current world?  When does the devil’s advocate take over, and the idealism become the occasional input?   Or is that the way things should be?

There seems to be so many opportunities for change available to all of us, in every facet of our lives.  But why is it that we so frequently dismiss the idealists as naive or unrealistic, as disconnected from the real world or not understanding the reasons things are the way they are?  Is it cynicsm?  Fear?  Complacency?  Anger?  Resentment?  Misunderstanding?  Miscommunication? 

How many good ideas have been turned aside because someone is judged too young?  Too old?  Unrealistic?  Unaware of the true environment?  Too close to the current problem?  Unqualified?  Overqualified?  

What is the point of this post?  I’ll admit, I’m not really sure.  I write to work through an idea.  If the opportuntity presents itself, then I’ll take the chance to discuss things with peers and colleagues.  What better way to combine both of those activites then through a blog post?

So, I’d say this is a call for comments, for feedback and discussion.  Am I completely off my rocker?  Was this just thoughts brought on by a combination of a chill breeze, a cloudy day, and a quiet song?  Or is this something others have seen, have experienced, have overcome?

Several weeks back I wrote about batch processing your work at home.

Today I’m going to completely ignore that post.  Nay, I will destroy that post with the tidbits of wisdom presented herein.

How, you ask?  Quite simply, by presenting the ever-so-compelling points highlighting that the best way to be productive at home is to consistently stream tasks, of course.

Why, you ask?  (Wow, you certainly have a lot of questions, don’t you.)  The answer is: because I can.

So let’s get started, shall we? (A question of my own, even if it is rhetorical, two can play that game.)

Looking at productivity systems like Getting Things Done, there is a rule covering a specific type of task that never enters the system.  In GTD, this is generally known as the “Two-Minute Rule”, and states that anything that can be completed in two minutes or less should just be completed now, and not put on a list for later.

While two minutes might be a little tight on the home front, the principle is sound.  If you can do something quickly, do it and get it over with.  Don’t leave it to fester, staring you in the face accusingly each morning as you come downstairs to make your coffee.

In fact, I don’t even think you need a specific timeframe, this is something where your intuition may be a better judge than a stopwatch.  If you’ve thought of or been presented with something that needs doing, and you have available the amount of time you think you might need, just get it done.

Examples, you ask? (Still with the questions, eh?)

Here are a few.

The dishes:

Now, with the exception of your dishwasher (appliance, not minimum wage employee working after school), you probably don’t want to let your dishes pile up to be “batch processed”.  After a few days, that pan you cooked fish in is going to be pretty rank.  And that pot you made pasta sauce in?  Well, let’s just say the pasta sauce has apparently gained the same properties as the steel in which it was created.

Take a few minutes after each meal to do the dishes.  I find that the bigger the pile of dishes, the harder it is to get me to start them.  And that becomes a scary vicious cycle that can culminate in eating off of Frisbees using sharpened sticks for utensils (well, it’s never gotten to that point, but you see my point).

Cleaning:

The weekend cleaning marathon is something I’m sure is familiar to many people, having been ingrained in us since birth.  The thing is, it’s a lot like the dishes.  If I know that I have to spend the next two hours cleaning, I’m going to put off starting that two hours as much as I can.

However, if I know that I need to spend, say, ten or fifteen minutes cleaning the kitchen, then I might want to get that out of the way before the House premiere, rather than catching the last fifteen minutes of some show I have either a) seen before, or b) have no clue what’s going on.

This has the added benefit of being able to take that cleaning window on the weekend and using it for things that do take a few hours, like heading out to the movies or going on a picnic to look at the beautiful fall colours.

Making your bed:

Now, for those of you who haven’t seen the movie Smart People yet, there is a line in it which states that making your bed sets the tone for the day.  Now, provided that this is, in fact, the tone you want to set for the day, it’s completely true.  Taking a few minutes to make your bed in the morning can just give the room a much calmer look, making it easier to relax after you’ve gotten home from a day of work.

And, it’ll make your mom happy, whether you happen to live with her or not.  You know it will.

Taking out the garbage:

I’m going to take a leap of faith here and assume that many of us have more than one garbage can in our homes.  Now, this frequently results in a mad dash Sunday night, or Monday morning (insert proper garbage days here), to run around the house and gather up all your garbage, recycling and the like, other than the garbage from the kitchen that you’ve already emptied once or twice.

But how about this? Next time you’re about to throw that kitchen garbage out, grab the garbage or recycling from another part of the house and take that too.  It’ll only take another minute, but it means you’re not running around trying to remember everything before you leave to work.

The truth about batch processing and incremental work

Honestly, even though these are compelling arguments for the superiority of getting your housework done incrementally, there really isn’t a definitive answer for which is better.  Like so many things in life, the answer is that it depends.

For some chores and tasks, doing things incrementally can work great.  Taking that few minutes to clean each day can be a great way to free up a chunk of time on the weekend.  However, we’re never going to want to wash our clothes one shirt at a time, that’s just something that naturally works into the batch process.

So what’s the lesson?  Basically, be conscious when looking at your housework.  So many of us spend a lot of time working at being productive at work, but then just float through the home side of the equation.  By really looking at what we do and how we do it, we can find ways to get things done easier and remove stress.  This in turn can improve our work-life balance, and give us usable time where before we had none.

Do you have other tips you’d like to share, either for batch processing or incremental work?  Share them in the comments below!

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Depending on the definition used, I fall into Generation Y.  However, while I do share some of the traits of a Gen Y, I think that I fit more into a liaison role than a pure generational member.  (For more on the liaison timeframe, be sure to check out Akshay’s post and the discussion that follows in the comments.)

Oddly enough, one of the areas which further cements this belief and makes me feel older than my ostensible peer group is that of work-life balance, the topic of much of my writing.  And the thing is, the feeling doesn’t seem to be going away.

Over the past year or so, I’ve seen the same type of post appear a few times.  People talking about how for Gen Y, work/life balance is different.  They love their work so much that it is what they find fulfilling in their lives.  They don’t need to draw distinctions between work time and personal time, because, hey, work time is fun.

And this isn’t my only source of dissonance.  Many also feel that due to our generation’s tendency to be ever-connected (mobile phones, internet, etc.) and that we’ve grown up working in this interconnected, collaborative, flexible style; that things will not change.  Ever.  That this is the greatest idea ever, we love it now, and even when we’re older, like the Gen Xers and Boomers are now, we’re going to keep doing things just the way we’re doing them now.

I have two problems with this.  One of them is that people feel that they don’t need balance.  I’m the first to admit that finding that equilibrium is a personal thing, with what people do to recharge and relax being whatever works best for them.  Some people like to head out to parties; others like to relax with a book, others still with a small group, and others by working.  Everyone will have a different method of relaxing.

So if I don’t have a problem with people saying that they find their work completely fulfilling and they don’t need or want to do anything else, what is it that bothers me?

The concept that you are focusing all of your energies, thus all of your success or failure, all of your potential legacy, in one area seems remarkably short-sighted to me.  To think that the priority we have now is the way we want to focus all of our energies for the foreseeable (and unforeseeable)

Yes, I understand that multitasking isn’t the path to productivity.  However, having absolutely all of your energy wrapped up in one thing, especially something subject to external factors, seems extremely risky to me.  Not having a source of satisfaction that comes from within or at least from an alternate source puts you in a very tough position should something not go well, or even if something does go well but you decide you want a change.

The second problem comes with the fact that people feel that this is a great way to live now, so it’ll be the great way to live in ten years, fifteen years, or indefinitely.

I’m not saying that we shouldn’t be trying to gain as much flexibility as we can (if that’s what we want) or starting our own businesses, or focusing on one thing.  But if there’s one constant that I can accept, it’s change.

Even in stable things, change is a constant.  I realize that as a generation whose oldest members are in their late 20’s, we may not have had a whole lot of varied experience in long term situations, but let’s look around at what we can see.  Is the successful marriage between high school sweethearts exactly the same as it was when they were 17?  Or is it the one where they grew together, and while things changed, they were changing together.

Let’s take it to the business world.  Even looking at 10 years ago, we were in the height of the dot com boom.  Workplaces were changing, adding gourmet cafeterias, pool tables and video games in the break room, and other wonderful perks.  This was supposed to be the forefront of a new paradigm in work, but how many of those companies are still in business?  Even of those companies who have survived, how many of them have stayed exactly the same?

Let’s face it.  Things change.  To assume that what we will want in five or ten years, or even five months, will be exactly what we want now is to ignore that fact.  Sure, there may be things that will stay the same.  We may want some of the same things.  But to say, with surety, that we are the generation who won’t change as we age, well, I don’t think we do ourselves any favours.  It takes a special kind of optimism/arrogance/ignorance to say that we’re completely outside the trends history has shown us.

Now, some people say that they know things are going to change, eventually.  That they want to make their mark, go 120% towards building a business empire for the next 10 years, then step back.  So basically, let’s accelerate at one point, to the exclusion of all else, for 10 years and then completely change direction.  Yes, some will be able to do it.  But how many people will just see the next step of the business, the next level of that sort of success, and then suddenly your 10 year plan becomes 20 or more?

Admitting that change will come down the line, but not preparing for it now just makes that change harder to adjust to.  And without adequate preparation for this future change, we lessen the chance of succeeding in that change.

Now, I’ll admit that this post is different in tone to many of the posts I’ve written here before.  I don’t have a tendency to rant (or at least to publish them) but I did want to post this.  Now, I know some will look at this and say that I’m being too pessimistic, and others might look at this and say that it’s a sign of Gen Y being realistic, and really, either one is fine.  I just hope that this post gives some people a new perspective on some of the comments being made about work/life balance by people in Gen Y, whether you’re Gen Y, Gen X, Boomer, or any other generational label you’d wish to apply.