I had a good laugh when I saw the results of this UK study summarized in the Daily Mail that said to have “perfect” work/life balance one couldn’t spend more than 2.5 hours at your desk working each day. Which, even if you had the most integrated life possible, would translate only to 17.5 hours/week!
I live and work here in the Bay Area, deep in Silicon Valley and some people here make the “humble brag” of how hard they work an actual sport. And while I pursue a more balanced, integrated life and Grokker values are around everyone maintaining effective work life balance, it still requires many more than 17 hours of work each week!
The startup-culture idealizes stories of founders who sleep under their desk and code for 48 hours straight. And, for sure, there are times this is necessary. But, generally, founding and leading a company is more of a marathon versus a sprint. And to build a successful company, you need to be consistently thinking clearly and communicating effectively. That means personal wellness is as big a priority for entrepreneurs as shipping their first minimum viable product (MVP).
This sentiment is shared regularly in business publications targeting founders and up and coming corporate leaders. Just in the last few weeks I’ve seen articles published by Entrepreneur and by Fast Company that confirm that regular exercise and pursuing non-work passions are necessary elements to professional success.
Grokker’s founder, Lorna Borenstein, understands and embodies this and it was a key driver for founding the company. You can hear her talk about it here. Through producing exclusive premium videos with experts in key wellness categories: cooking, fitness and yoga, anyone – even the busiest start-up founders – can find the time to exercise with a trainer, practice yoga with an expert or learn some cooking secrets shared by Michelin chefs.
Check out Lorna’s video collections and be sure to follow her on Grokker.
Do you have a story to share about how you are achieving work life balance? Let’s talk about it in the forum.