Work-life balance - building the life you want to live
This section provides you with information about work-life balance, and what New Zealand employers and employees think about its importance.
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What is work-life balance?
- Spending time with your family is part of keeping a work-life balance
"Work-life balance is about the interaction between our paid work and other activities, including unpaid work in families and the community, leisure, and personal development.
"Work-life balance is about creating a productive work culture where the potential for tensions between work and other parts of people's lives is minimised. This means having appropriate employment provisions in place, and organisational systems and supportive management underpinning them.
"Work-life balance for any one person is having the 'right' combination of participation in paid work (defined by hours and working conditions), and other aspects of their lives. This combination will not remain fixed, but may change over time."
Source: State Services Commission, 'Work-Life Balance: A Resource for the State Services, March 2005.
Facts about work-life balance
In 2006, the Department of Labour reported on two surveys of employees and employers about their work-life balance. It found:
- 52% of New Zealand workers rate their work-life balance as good or excellent.
- 40% have some or a lot of difficulty getting the balance they want.
- 46% experience some degree of work-life conflict.
- Almost 60% of employees said aspects of their workplace culture made work-life balance harder to achieve, particularly the expectations of colleagues, workmates, managers and supervisors.
- Workers said the single-most helpful arrangement was having flexible start and finish times.
What can make work-life balance hard to maintain?
- How often do you take work home?
Maintaining work-life balance can be a challenge. Have a look at the list below and think about your own situation. Are you:
- working long hours, varied hours and rotating shifts?
- working at night?
- working hours in your own time?
- taking your laptop home, just in case you have a spare minute?
- taking your laptop to bed with you?
- taking your cellphone to bed, on holiday, out on the boat?
- taking work with you on holiday?
If you answered yes to most of the questions above, you may be overworked or trying to juggle too many things. Take time to reflect on what small things you can do to put more balance into your life.
Download the Wheel of Life exercise to find out how your work-life-balance stacks up (PDF 68K)
How is your work-life balance?
Generally, you know you have a good work-life balance when you:
- have a sense of control in your work and life
- have a strong sense of achievement from work and life
- gain enjoyment from everyday life.
If this doesn’t sound like you, then check out the quizzes below.
Feeling that your life is out of balance? Do the work-life balance quizThink you may be burned out? Do the burn-out quiz
What can you do if you don't have work-life balance?
Don’t ignore it! It won’t go away. Check out the tips below.
Simplify your life
- Keep balanced, do something you love doing
- Identify your priorities and adjust your life to make time for things most important to you.
- Check out your time management – can you make changes?
- You may not be working too many hours, but you may be trying to do too much in the free hours you have. Are there steps you can take to free up some of those busy hours at home? Are you able to ask for help with some chores?
- If you are too tired to talk to people in the evening, don’t answer your phone, and ignore those texts coming through.
Personal self-care
- Take time to look after yourself.
- Each day, do something you love doing.
- Say “no” sometimes.
- Recognise when you are getting stressed, and develop techniques to manage your stress levels.
- Identify key people who can help you.
Who can help you?
- Talk to your employer/colleagues/business partner/family members.
- Can your work patterns change? Can you work more flexible hours?
The employer's role in helping workers find work-life balance
Employers are becoming increasingly aware of the importance and economic benefits of maintaining healthy and happy staff.
- Negotiate your hours with your employer so you can spend more time with the kids
There are many different ways that employers can help workers find good work-life balance. It makes sense for employers to encourage employees to maintain a healthy work-life balance, as it is a win-win situation for both parties.
Employers can help their workers achieve better work-life balance by letting them:
- have access to a phone and/or phone messages
- have minor variations in start and finish times
- choose their own lunch break
- use sick/domestic leave to look after family members
- choose, have input into, or change rosters or shifts
- have extra unpaid leave, or be able to buy or negotiate extra annual leave
- choose how many hours they work (such as part-time hours)
- have access to a shower (for use after lunchtime sport or the gym)
- regularly or occasionally work from home.
If you think your employer could help you get a better work-life balance, talk to them about putting in place some of these ideas.
What now?
Ultimately, you are responsible for the quality of your life. While your employer might be able to help you maintain a healthy work-life balance, it is you who will first need to take steps to achieve that balance. This can come only from your commitment – to yourself and to the people you care about most.
Find out more
Other websites
- Department of Labour website - find out more about work-life balance and how to get it
- Department of Labour website - work-life balance: a snapshot of employee and employer attitudes
- NZ Herald website - dads face workplace plan balancing act
- State Services Commission website - work-life balance: a resource for the state services
