SXSW: It’s Time To Abandon The Fallacy Of Work-Life Balance
Dr Dawna Ballard puts it out there and questions work-life balance’s utopian promise with a much more modern and refreshing approach steeped in a ground-breaking new theory around time.
“Time is not the problem to be solved, but the relationship we have with it” asserts associate professor Dawna Ballard, an expert in chronemics (the relationship between time and human communication) in her compelling and articulate SXSW key note on the last day of the Interactive stream.
Even the words “measuring work life balance is a mechanistic approach to trying a solve a problem with an industrial age filter,” she says in her softly spoken and gentle demeanour about her seminal work in the medical field, where she researched this premise among professionals working with children suffering from abuse.
The room sat spellbound by her research and her findings. It always struck me as a binary concept, the whole notion of time management, and in our company culture research, it is the single most important issue facing organisations and professionals from CEOs down, the working parents trying to juggle all the needs of a modern and complex world.
In her research, Ballard asked men and women about what work life balance was to them, and inevitably and in equal measures, the distress of a lack of it had her cohort in tears. There is a sense of failure over and over for men and women equally in their pursuit of this Utopean state of work-life balance that is not practically achievable.
Her findings showed unanimously work life balance wasn’t achievable, but she says the notion of “alignment”, which is grounded in a new theory, was. Alignment is a new concept and importantly we can all be aligned based on our own individual internal clocks and rhythm, which varies greatly from person to person.
In 2017, the Nobel Laurettes for medicine and physiology Jeffrey C. Hall, Michael Rosbash and Michael W. Young won the prize for identifying that every human being has its own internal human clock or rhythm and the “chronic misalignment between our lifestyle and the rhythm dictated by our individual and inner timekeepers is associated with increased risk for various diseases.”
Additionally, “Lifestyle as medicine has the potential to prevent up to 80% of chronic diseases, no other medicine can match that,” David Katz MD MPH claimed.
This is a mind-boggling statistic from a scholar and doctor. This research pretty much throws out all the outdated theories and techniques of so called “time management”, programs and courses and tools and techniques designed in a binary and mechanistic way. It’s a bit like trying to get a horse and cart to take you to London from Sydney.
This has implications for how we design jobs, how we structure companies and how we can recognise every staff member has its own pace and rhythm and tapping into that will give organisations a lead over their competitors and their performance.
So, what is Alignment?
Alignment is an ongoing dynamic process where you as an individual work out your alignment needs. This is a three step process:
1.) What are your Pacers?
These are the external things that supports your sense of well being and these are all individual but for me they were things like doing interesting and challenging work, making time for my children, spending time with my best friends, seeing my elderly parents.
2.) Recovery
These are the things that hep you to recover and sometimes they can be the same as above and other times not. So for me its, exercise, meditation, reading a book, not drinking alcohol and going to the movies.
The final step is to evaluate your pacers and recover points from a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual time line and work out what works for you
3.) Practice and Refine
Keep at it gently and with great humour.
Here is a snippet of Dr Ballards’ tips she gave in relation to FOMO at SXSW…
Latest News
The Mars Agency Announces Latest Findings Of Retail Media Report Card
The Mars Agency has developed a scorecard that assesses the capabilities of leading platforms across key criteria required to optimally plan, execute, and measure effective retail media programs. The scorecard aims To help brands efficiently evaluate their spending options across retail media networks in Australia (and New Zealand). With spending on retail media advertising in […]
‘It’s The Lesser Of Two Evils’ – NRL Eyes US Betting Market As Aussie Regulators Circle
US betting firms will be delighted by the circa 50,000 Americans who could soon watch the NRL on their favourite app.
A-League In Deep Discussions With New Partner To Keep Games On TV After Production Company Enters Administration
The A-League's insatiable appetite for scoring own goals continues.
TV Ratings (27/03/2024): Jungle Members At War Over Concealed Lipstick
A heated argument between two jungle members did the numbers for Ten last night, with I’m A Celeb obtaining a total national reach of 1,282,000. Fans were delighted as Candice Warner and influencer Skye Wheatley got into it over a stick of lipstick, leading Warner to dub the Instagram star “selfish.” Wheatley, best known for […]
Is The Australian Music Industry In Trouble? Inquiry Launched Following Splendour Cancellation
Earlier this week, an inquiry was launched into the challenges and opportunities currently facing the Australian live music industry in the wake of multiple festival cancellations. On 25 March 2024, the Minister for the Arts, the Hon. Tony Burke MP, asked the Committee on Communications and the Arts to inquire into and report on the […]
Liana Dubois, Leandro Perez, Aimee Buchanan & More Gather For Inaugural Compadres Leadership Event
Didn't get the invite? Perhaps you're not as important as you thought.
Cathay Captures The Unforgettable Thrill Of Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, Via Publicis
Nobody does rugby like Hong Kong, apparently. Certainly nobody does it as badly as Australia.
Cocogun Nabs Christine Watts, Kirsty Reynolds & Shev Tan Bolstering Management & Creative Teams
Cocogun bolsters its team with new hires. Committed to purchasing a bigger sofa, too.
The Media Store’s Jacquie Alley & Sam Cousins Take The Plunge With Pro-Bono Work For Cure Cancer
B&T chats with The Media Store bosses about their great pro-bono work and sponsored swim.
Hawke’s Brewing Co. Taps Rocket Comms For PR Agency Following Competitive Pitch
We're expecting Rocket Comms productivity to crash in spectacular fashion following this win.
Spotlight On Sponsors: Patties Serves Up A Taste Of Home For Olympians & South Sydney Rabbitohs Recommit To Gambling Reform
While the Rabbitohs commits to gambling reform, B&T reckons the team should commit to a decent auto sponsor.
Google: “Inevitable” That Bad Actors Will Abuse Ads Platform As Advertiser Account Suspensions Double
Google maintains it's simply impossible for it to entirely stop bad people placing & paying for ads using its service.
Quantcast Expands APAC Sales Team With Appointment Of News Corp Account Manager
No pressure at all when you are appointed as a client success manager.
Publicis Sapient Tests Microsoft-Powered Gen AI Search Tool With Homes & Villas By Marriott Bonvoy
Given Gen AI's record for mangling stuff, B&T cannot see the problem with letting it decide your next holiday digs.
Volkswagen & DDB Group’s “Roo Badge” To Reduce Kangaroo Related Road Collisions
Watch out for RooBadge as Cannes Lions' most debated campaign this year.
Twilio Launches Unified Profiles & Agent Copilot Features To Boost Productivity & Engagement
Agent Copilot sounds like James Bond's less interesting cousin.
Reebok & Honda Among New Clients For onetwo agency
OneTwo finally lives up to its name with this double billing.
Ogilvy Report: Throw Out The Social Strategy Rule Book, The Rules Of The Past No Longer Apply
B&T was puzzled that all 'influencers' aren't, effectively, 'virtual', but here we are.
WhiteGREY & AKQA Merge In Australia, Lee Simpson Departs
Fortunately, the combined agencies aren't opting for a trite portmanteau for the new name.
Splendour In The Grass 2024 Music Festival Cancelled!
Music fans all over the country reportedly relieved they can pack away their rain coats and gumboots for another year.
TV Ratings (26/03/2024): “Fairy Bread, F***ing Disgusting”: Gordon Ramsay Slams Aussie Food In Food Stars Launch
Ramsay not one for mincing his words, even when it comes to minced meat pies.
Paramount+ International Boss Doubles Down On Aussie Content, Says Ad-Tier will Grow Audiences And Revenue
Good news as Paramount will not be binning I’m A Celebrity for re-runs of Frasier.
Brent Smart: Telstra Pushing For 50-50 Brand-Performance Split But Warns Numbers ‘Won’t Look Great’ Initially
The old brand vs performance debate continues. But here, Brent is firmly sitting on the fence.
Crowded House, Tones And I & Dom Dolla Win Big At The Shure Rolling Stone Music Awards
B&T staffer reports back with humdinger of a hangover & feeling seriously uncool after mixing with music types.
Opinion: Dyslexia “A Hidden Gem” For Brands & Agencies
Dyslexics offer underappreciated benefits in the corporate field, according to this op-ed.
David Jones Taps Criteo To Power Online Retail Media Arm
Want to see ads for things you probably can't afford? David Jones has got you covered with new retail media play.
oOh!media Sets Up Team To Target Business Audiences Across Airports & Offices
oOh! wants brands to harass you every minute of your next business trip.
QMS Launches Australian First DOOH & TV Partnership With Samba TV
Samba TV, of course, is not a channel dedicated to dancing. Much to our dismany.
Slew Of New Hires At Amplify
Four new faces join the Amplify offices. Team say desk scarcity becoming "acute".
Adobe Announces Content Authenticity Initiative Expansions To Counter Deep Fakes
Try as they might to enlighten them, we suspect Trump supporters will continue to watch and believe Fox News.
The PR Group Appoints TechCrunch Senior Reporter Catherine Shu As Director Of Content & Media
Catherine Shu makes the bold leap from journalism to PR. Says inevitable pay bump was "unrelated".
HERO Nabs Ebony Santin From AMPR
Rumours Santin cleared out the stationery cupboard before departing are as yet unconfirmed.
Karena Noble Checks Out Of EVT Hotels & Resorts To Launch Comms Consultancy
Noble still managed to squeezed in a continental breakfast before departing.
Canva Acquires Design Platform Affinity To Bring Professional Design Tools To Every Organisation
Canva & Adobe face off continues. We're not picking sides but keenly aware that Canva's office is next door to ours.
“Lean On Our Team To Help You Find An Audience”: Why Understanding Audience Engagement Is Essential In Journalism
Engaging the audience is critical to journos, apparently. We'd thought self-loathing & alcoholism were key.
Adobe Summit: Major Gen AI Developments, Data Concessions & Partnerships
What happens in Vegas stays there. Unless it's the Adobe Summit and then you get to read about in B&T.