A Work Life Worth Living

I’m writing this in the car as we head a couple hours away on a family outing. When I’m done, I’ll connect to the internet through my phone, and post it. Technically, I could write and send the whole thing through my smartphone, but I prefer to write long form on a full keyboard.

Technology is supposed to make things easier. It’s supposed to untether you and free you to work or play more to your liking. The things is, for most it has the opposite effect. Wherever you go, you see people looking down, staring at their phones. They do it walking down the street, at dinner, at the movie theatre, even driving. I’m as guilty as anyone (except for driving. I never do that and hope you don’t either).

Using technology to make your life easier takes work.  Facebook, Twitter, texting, iWhatever, can be quite addicting. In some cases that’s no accident by the way. Sites, and games use “gamefication” and other techniques to try to get you to use them as often and as long and they can. To me, there is nothing wrong with that. It’s just good business.

It’s my responsibility to keep myself in check. But if you do the work, this is a great time to be alive and building a business. Most of us carry the collective knowledge of everything anyone has ever known in our pockets. What are we doing with that? So many of us can do our work in coffee shops or trains, or planes or in line at the grocery or while our children are playing at the park.

Some look at a mom that is concentrating on her smartphone while her kids play at the playground and judge her a bad mother, neglectful and missing lives joyful moments. Not me. The place I go to first is- what a smart woman. While others are slaving away in a cubicle, she’s found a way to get work done while enjoying more of life’s joyful moments. Of course either can be true.

This isn’t everyone of course. I have a good friend that has a business remodeling kitchens. He has a manufacturing facility to cut the stone countertops and workers to manage. He needs to be at the shop early and stay late. He works long hours and he works hard. And he’s happy. He loves his business. And he’s great at it.

Most of you are in the planning or early stages of your business. While you do your business plans and lay the groundwork for your companies, think about the kind of life you want to live. Running a business is hard work. Really hard work. But with some forethought, that doesn’t mean you can’t have a full life and be connected to your friends and family.

In a recent podcast episode Mitch Joel talked about work / life balance. He talked about how life has become less a balance (how do you make time for work, and time for family) and more blend. I think this is the right perspective in today’s world. How can can you use technology to leverage your time to get your work done AND live a life worth living.

Give that some thought this week.