When Work-Life Balance Affects YOU: Navigating Different Approaches in the Workplace

linnearader
Jun 30
5 min read

Updated: Jul 8

Walking through life with balance — Navigating life with balance

Our last post was all about seven tried and true tactics to establish a healthy work-life balance. Have you read it yet? Link here! If not, make sure you do, the tactics will change your life. This post will dive into what to do when someone's (yours or anyone else's) work-life balance affects YOU.

As I said in the last post, work-life balance looks different to different people. What I see as setting boundaries, or establishing effective communication techniques will be different from yours. When something is different for every person, how do you navigate through how those all affect you?

We all have different ways of doing things and thus our work-life balance will look different. Our priorities are different based upon who we are. Those differences can be based on age (generation), gender, whether you're a parent or not, and many, many different traits. Whatever the reason, we all must take a step back and respect the differences that make each of us who we are.

Understanding Different Work-Life Balance Styles

Woman stressed at laptop, holding head in hands. Office setting with white walls. She wears glasses, black blazer, and a beige top. — Work stress

First, let's understand more about some potential work-life balance differences.

One employee shows up 15 minutes before their shift starts and gets all their personal items put away, coffee made and is ready to work at start time. Another employee arrives at work right on time. Then they take a few minutes to get organized, grab their coffee and get to work.
Two employees have similar jobs. One comes in early, skips lunch, works late, whatever it takes to get the job done. The other works hard and when it's the end of the workday, goes home. What gets done, gets done well, but not everything gets completed.
When there's a challenge at work, one employee tackles the challenge head on, works on it throughout their shift and goes home. Their teammates do the same. The difference is that the second team member shows up the next day with three pages of notes, a bunch of ideas and a potential solution.
One co-worker has young children and on occasion calls in sick to take care of his children. Another employee has children, but their spouse handles illnesses, so they never call in sick.

There are far more examples that we could talk about, but these give us a basic understanding.

As we are respecting other's work-life balance what if these differences affect us? Because let me tell you, other people's behavior affects you. Let's go back to our examples; in each one, the employees may build resentment for each other. These feelings will grow into frustration and can degrade a team if not met head on. So, how do we address them?

How to Address Work-Life Balance Conflicts

Have an open dialog.

Set expectations and boundaries. Have a meeting and set your boundaries and expectations. I love having a building block or an expectation exercise. You begin to understand where all members of your team are coming from, and you can establish overall goals and expectations of all members.

Talk about "If" and "Then."

"If I feel I'm carrying too much of the workload." "If I feel you're frustrated with me because I didn't stay late to help." "If there's too much work to do in our scheduled workday." "Then I will do ABC, and you'll respond with XYZ."

Find the why.

What motivates each of us is different. What motivates you? What motivates the other members of your team? Each person's motivation often runs hand in hand with their work-life balance.

All these solutions for helping to understand work-life balance and its effects on others involves open and honest communication with your team.

When Communication Isn't Enough

"You can't control other people's choices, but you absolutely can control your response to them."

Sometimes, even with the best communication, you'll still find yourself affected by someone else's work-life balance choices. Maybe your teammate's boundary of leaving at 5 PM sharp means you're constantly picking up the slack. Or perhaps your colleague's habit of bringing personal problems to work is affecting the entire team's productivity.

Here's the reality: you can't control other people's choices, but you absolutely can control your response to them.

Document patterns, not emotions.

If someone's work-life balance consistently impacting your ability to do your job, start keeping track. Write down specific instances, dates, and how it affected your work. This isn't about building a case against someone – it's about having clear facts when you need to have a conversation or escalate to management.

Focus on the work impact, not the personal choice.

When you do address the situation, keep it professional. Instead of saying "You always leave early, and I'm stuck doing your work," try "When the Johnson project wasn't completed by deadline, I had to work late to meet our client commitment. How can we better distribute the workload moving forward?"

Know when to involve your manager.

If you've tried direct communication and the issue persists, it's time to bring in your supervisor. Present the facts you've documented and focus on the business impact. Your manager needs to know when team dynamics are affecting productivity.

Protecting Your Own Work-Life Balance

"Being accommodating is great, but being taken advantage of is not."

Here's something we don't talk about enough: while you're being understanding of everyone else's boundaries, who's protecting yours?

Don't be the default solution. Just because you're flexible doesn't mean you should always be the one to stay late, cover shifts, or take on extra work. Being accommodating is great, but being taken advantage of is not.

Set your own "if-then" statements. "If I'm consistently working past 6 PM because others leave at 5, then I will discuss workload distribution with my manager." "If I'm covering sick calls more than twice a month, then I need to address this pattern."

Practice saying no respectfully. "I understand you need to leave for your daughter's recital, but I also have commitments tonight. Let's figure out how to manage this project deadline together before we both leave."

The Bottom Line

Working together to balance our work and our lives — Work-life balance respect

"The goal isn't for everyone to have identical work-life balance – that's impossible and unnecessary."

Healthy Work-Life Balance

Respecting different work-life balance approaches doesn't mean accepting whatever comes your way. It means finding a way for everyone's boundaries to coexist without anyone feeling resentful or taken advantage of.

The goal isn't for everyone to have identical work-life balance – that's impossible and unnecessary. The goal is for everyone to contribute fairly while maintaining their personal boundaries. And sometimes, that means having tough conversations about what "fair" actually looks like for your specific team and situation.

Remember, a healthy work-life balance isn't just about you managing your own time and boundaries. It's about creating an environment where everyone can thrive without sacrificing others in the process. That takes effort from everyone involved, including you.

What's your experience been with navigating different work-life balance styles on your team? I'd love to hear your stories and strategies in the comments below.

And, as always, carry social kindness with you everywhere you go. The world needs you and your positive mindset!