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Traditionally, we view reaching a good work-life balance as hitting a goal. But it may be more of a moving target than we realise. F Few topics have been so endlessly analysed, glorified and dissected as work-life balance. The quest to attain this somewhat nebulous state has dominated discourse around careers for years – especially for working parents. The concept is often presented as something to achieve, or a goal to reach. And once you've reached it, congratulations: you've made it; you're a successful human being of the 21st Century. But the problem is that we often tell ourselves: "'I'm going to put in eight hours' worth of work, and then I'm going to put in eight hours' worth of me time, which will include my family, my hobbies, my workout, my everything'," says Anat Lechner, clinical associate professor of management at New York University. "I don't think it's such a simple formula." And, according to new findings, it may not be. Some researchers are now encouraging us to stop thinking about work-life balance as an achievement that you either hit or don't. Instead, they suggest it may be more of a lifelong process – a continuous, never-ending exercise that requires vigilance, self-awareness and timely tweaks. Not a one-time fix Forget reaching that golden goal: researchers Ioana Lupu of ESSEC Business School in France, and Mayra Ruiz-Castro of the University of Roehampton in the UK argue that work-life balance is a "a cycle, not an achievement". In their 2020 study, the researchers interviewed nearly 80 employees at two London-based firms – an equal number of men and women between the ages of 30 and 50, all with at least one dependent child – who worked in middle or senior management roles. Although it sounds like the respondents had a lot in common, here's what separated them: about 30% of the men and 50% of the women reported resisting working long hours. The other respondents, meanwhile, all worked long hours because they thought that's what successful professionals should do. The common pitfall is to think of work-life balance as divvying time up evenly between different realms, like the office or family. But it doesn't work that way (Credit: Alamy) The common pitfall is to think of work-life balance as divvying time up evenly between different realms, like the office or family. But it doesn't work that way (Credit: Alamy) Once Lupu and Ruiz-Castro looked at those who rejected the long hours, they found that those workers actually had strikingly similar strategies for maintaining their work-life balance. They employed more "reflexivity" – or the ability to reflect and question assumptions in the name of self-awareness – and regularly took steps to adjust the things standing in their way of coveted work-life balance. Workers stopped and questioned their circumstances – reflecting on their emotions and situations, then pinpointed their specific roadblocks to work-life balance. Taking stock and "claiming this mental space to gain clarity of what they want for themselves is the first step toward identifying and implementing alternative ways of working and living," says Ruiz-Castro. Lupu and Ruiz-Castro identified five steps that the respondents in the study who had better work-life balance used in their jobs. First, they paused, de-normalised beliefs such as "I'm a professional, so I should work, work, work", and asked themselves questions like, "What's currently causing me stress?". Second, after identifying the cause, they zeroed in on their resultant emotions – did they feel angry, sad, energised? Third, they reprioritised, asking, "Is working long hours really worth cutting back on family time?", for example. Fourth, they considered their alternatives: is there anything at work that could be changed to accommodate these new priorities? And finally, they implemented changes, like asking their supervisor for greater flexibility, or deciding not to take on every project that comes their way. The discussion of 'work-life balance' actually masks something else – Anat Lechner This five-step process is something anyone can adopt. Going through the steps, and constantly checking in with yourself, can help you shift and adapt your professional life to something that will better harmonise with your personal one, their research suggests. "Awareness of your emotional state is essential in order to determine the changes you want to make in your work and in your life," says Lupu. New York University's Lechner agrees that finding that balance is an ongoing pursuit. It's not simply about divvying up the hours in your day between work, the gym, kids, chores and meditation. Because even if you do make sure the hours are evenly split, if the underlying emotional sources of stress are still there – the kinds of stress that the five-step cycle could help identify – then the time you actually spend at home may not be enjoyable. "We come home and even though physically we are there, mentally we still may be processing things that happened at work. We're not present," she says. "I very often think the discussion of 'work-life balance' actually masks something else. What we call 'work-life balance' is actually just a proxy to having a sense of fulfilment and contentment." Studies show that personal choices only take you so far in obtaining work-life balance. A lot of it falls on what your organisation does to help make it feasible (Credit: Alamy) Studies show that personal choices only take you so far in obtaining work-life balance. A lot of it falls on what your organisation does to help make it feasible (Credit: Alamy) Other steps to take Of course, finding that balance probably shouldn't be something you have to do by yourself. Research by Erin Kelly, professor of work and organisation studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shows companies and managers can play a key role in creating a better environment for workers. For her book, Overload: How Good Jobs Went Bad and What to Do About It, she and co-author Phyllis Moen split more than 1,000 employees at a Fortune 500 company into two groups: one that worked under a management redesign and one that continued working within the existing management structure. Under the management redesign, many steps were taken to ensure better work-life balance for workers and prevent burnout. Managers were regularly reminded to explicitly support their employees, for example, and workers were allowed to make changes, like cancelling 0900 morning meetings.All of this was done in the name of increasing job satisfaction and giving workers greater flexibility, and to assure workers that it was something management was committed to. Unsurprisingly, Kelly and Moen found that employees in the redesign group reported less stress, less burnout, were less likely to quit their jobs and, over the next four years, were 40% less likely to quit than those who kept working under the old policies. "Work-life balance is understood to be an individual's response – so [people think] 'it's up to me to manage the craziness of my work life'," says Kelly. But organisations need to examine the demands they're placing on employees. "The root problem is not how the two pieces of work and life come together. It's that we have unrealistic expectations of what we're asked to do on the work side."If your workplace isn't an environment where work-life balance is possible in the first place, any strides you attempt to make toward it on a personal level will be in vain. That's a conversation that appears to be gathering pace since the pandemic ripped up the rule book for how we work as well as reshaped our working lives. The new prevalence of remote work, flexible work or even 'hybrid' working models will likely all play important roles in how we balance our professional and personal lives going forward. And if it seems like finding that perfect balance remains elusive, the experts say that keeping some perspective can help. We're in an era of catastrophic job loss; the pandemic alone has slashed 255 million jobs worldwide, and more jobs could be lost in the next decade as AI advances and more offices digitise. For millions of people, work is about being able to put food on the table. Talking about work-life balance "is a very privileged conversation", says Lechner. "If we're reflecting, maybe we should also reflect on that." Additional reporting by Lauren Brown |
When it comes to interior design, there is a happy medium to be found between minimalist and maximalist. Dominic Lutyens speaks to the advocates of "relaxed minimalism". T The word "minimalist" elicits mixed reactions. From the 1990s, it has been used by many as a derogatory term. Even ardent design fans associate it with soulless interiors and a humourless reverence for design that prioritises aesthetics over comfort, or simply regard it as impractical, given all the stuff many of us inevitably accumulate. In recent years, some designers have even gone to the other extreme, cultivating maximalism, welcomed by many as a joyful, exuberant antidote to uptight minimalism. Floral wallpapers and rich, intense colours became popular in interiors crammed with contrasting textures and an eclectic mix of furniture, artworks and curios. More like this: - Origins of the de-cluttered home - Inside Japan's most minimalist homes - Five ways to be calm and why it matters But there's a happy medium to be found between these two extremes. We're now witnessing a return to more restrained, uncluttered interiors – but with a more relaxed, comfortable feel. One indication of this is paint colours, which are moving away from maximalism's dramatic, even oppressive hues, such as navy or bottle green, to paler, earthier mid-tones like sandy beige and sage green that arguably make rooms feel more spacious. Perhaps lockdowns, which reawakened an interest in nature, helped foster this taste for a palette inspired by the great outdoors. A perception of maximalism as excessive and wasteful in the light of growing environmental concerns might have also sparked a trend for more clean-lined homes. Pops of colour and display shelving help provide both character and a sense of order (Credit: Betsy Smith) Pops of colour and display shelving help provide both character and a sense of order (Credit: Betsy Smith) "People now want a simpler life partly because they're more conscious of sustainability," says Betsy Smith, an interiors stylist and colour consultant for Graphenstone Paints, who dubs her taste "relaxed minimalism". She tells BBC Culture: "As we're becoming more informed about what we buy, our interiors are becoming more considered. We're using fewer elements to curate a comfortable, practical, stylish home." The 1990s vogue for radically minimalist interiors sprung from early 20th-Century modernism and a zero tolerance, among some of its exponents, for extraneous elements. Technological advances in reinforced concrete and steel frames obviated the need for internal load-bearing walls, resulting in spacious, open-plan interiors. A seminal example is Dutch architect and designer Gerrit Rietveld's Schröder House of 1924. Comprising intersecting vertical and horizontal rectangular planes, its interiors were open-plan and devoid of ornament. And German architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe advocated extreme simplicity with his German Pavilion created in 1929 for the International Exposition in Barcelona and cuboid Tugendhat House in the Czech Republic, built in 1930. Yet aspects of these seemingly severe buildings are influencing today's warm minimalism trend. These include a strong connection between their interiors and surrounding landscape thanks to their expansive glazing. A graceful willow tree stands outside the dining area of Tugendhat House. Another modernist element inspiring architects of minimalist homes today is the rich palette of materials favoured by Van der Rohe. For the German Pavilion, he created two luxurious, leather-covered seats – still in production – for use by the visiting King and Queen of Spain. "Minimalism, born out of early 20th-Century modernism, was in many ways a reaction against over-decorated, over-furnished high-Victorian interiors," says James Gorst, founder of James Gorst Architects. "At Tugenhadt, Van der Rohe deployed a palette of richly veined marbles, exotic veneers, fabrics and rugs to animate and soften its essentially white interiors." Integrating views of the surrounding landscape into a minimalist home is essential to making it feel warm Gorst says his project, Sandpipers, a house in rural Surrey, which boasts many floor-to-ceiling windows, channels this aesthetic: "Its transparency opens itself confidently to the outside world with the exterior landscape replacing the stencilled wallpapers of the 19th Century. Its walls are white, its flooring made of bare polished concrete and the window frames are metal. Yet its interior is warm, thanks to oak panelling, paintings and leather-covered furniture, such as the LC1 chair, co-designed by modernists Le Corbusier, Charlotte Perriand and Pierre Jeanneret." Oak panelling and leather-covered furniture create a warm feel in a house in rural Surrey, UK (Credit: Gorst Architects) Oak panelling and leather-covered furniture create a warm feel in a house in rural Surrey, UK (Credit: Gorst Architects) Danish interior design studio Space Copenhagen also links indoors and out when dreaming up minimalist interiors. "We prefer sheer fabrics for curtains and blinds that allow for outside daylight to filter softly into spaces," says Signe Bindslev Henriksen, co-founder of the company, who sums up its style as "poetic modernism". She tells BBC Culture: "Translucency avoids creating a hard boundary between inside and outside. Overall, we choose natural, tactile, organic materials – wood, stone, leather, linen, warm-toned metals and exposed plaster – and subdued, earthy colour tones." For David Montalba, founder of Montalba Architects, which has offices in Los Angeles and Lausanne, Switzerland, integrating views of the surrounding landscape into a minimalist home is essential to making it feel warm. "The landscape can be a house's rural setting or a courtyard with paving and planting, as found within a triple-height atrium at our project Vertical Courtyard House in LA," says Montalba, who grew up in Switzerland and the Carmel area of California. He is influenced by the Southern Californian regionalist architecture of Irving Gill, whose early 20th-Century houses featured simple interiors, plain fireplaces and skylights, and George Brook-Kothlow, who incorporated an abundance of wood into his houses. "Engaging with the outdoors helps soften a minimalist home, as do bookshelves, art and textiles. In one living space at Vertical Courtyard House, a wall-hung textile piece by Canadian artist Brent Wadden adds warmth and texture." Comfort zone And interior designer Rukmini Patel has created a warmly minimalist living room for a home in Stratford-upon-Avon, using colours and materials inspired by nature. "My client, who has a house with a garden, expressed a wish for the interior to connect with the outdoors," she says. "When creating a cosy minimalist home, I feel it's important to use a multitude of natural materials, textures and colours that engage the senses. For the living room I chose autumnal tones – rust, burnt orange and olive green – and wicker and wood to evoke nature. I opted for wood flooring, echoing this with wood, rather than colder metal or glass furniture, and a warm peachy cream shade for the walls. I also plumped for a thick, tactile Berber rug that is calming and relaxing when you sink your feet into it." Smith believes a warmly minimalist interior can be achieved simply by combining a limited number of contrasting textures: "Play with the juxtaposition of opposites as transitioning from one to the other heightens the senses. Imagine walking barefoot on a hard smooth floor, then stepping on to a soft textured rug, and the feeling of warmth and luxury that brings." Interior designer Rukmini Patel created a "cosy minimalist" interior with rattan and wood details (Credit: Megan Taylor) Interior designer Rukmini Patel created a "cosy minimalist" interior with rattan and wood details (Credit: Megan Taylor) Bathrooms can look especially cold due to their hard surfaces but subtle touches can warm them up. For an understated bathroom in a Victorian home in Hampstead, Katy Manolescue, founder of Article Design Studio, chose nuanced, pale tones, such as "clotted cream, biscuit and stone", while vanity units were topped with speckled terrazzo that enlivens the space. Tiles with a warm white glaze were paired with biscuit-toned grout for a warmer look, while pewter and bronze fittings were chosen instead of chilly-looking silver finishes. Designers are demonstrating now that minimalist homes can combine clarity with comfort and practicality with style Smith advises choosing neutral paint colours, but judiciously: "Minimal interiors are typically neutral and airy, creating a relaxing environment. But neutral paints are often more challenging to get right than more saturated hues. It's essential to get the right undertone when selecting a neutral paint colour as this impacts on a room's atmosphere. Neutrals with a red undertone work well in light-deprived spaces as they warm them up. They also accentuate the beauty of natural materials, such as stone and leather. Standard pure brilliant whites tinged with a cold blue tone are overly stark and should be avoided." Yet Smith believes minimalism and accents of bright colour aren't mutually exclusive: "Introduce strong colour, albeit sparingly," she counsels. "Opt for a single statement piece of furniture like a mustard or orange upholstered sofa, which instantly adds warmth. Coloured chairs around a table make a dining area inviting." That said, she adds, bulky unused furniture make a space look lifeless. "A large dining table is great when it's a hive of activity but makes a space feel empty if unoccupied. I arrange pieces, such as ceramics, on mine when it's not used so it looks less static." According to Smith, the modern minimalist home needn't exclude visible "objects or belongings", although she advises displaying them in an ordered fashion. "I've used a giant grid of pigeonholes to show my collection of objects, which ties everything into one focused statement. I also like a single shelf with a collection of objects displayed in a linear row. Placing a shelf high up in an unexpected place, such as above a doorway, adds an element of surprise and humour in minimal settings." Interior designers and architects also recommend including vintage furniture in rooms for a cosy feel. "Mid-century furniture creates a welcome sense of familiarity and nostalgia," says Montalba. "In the entrance hall of Vertical Courtyard House is a bench by French modernist architect Jean Prouvé." The Vertical Courtyard House in LA has a light, airy aesthetic but also has character (Credit: Montalba Architects) The Vertical Courtyard House in LA has a light, airy aesthetic but also has character (Credit: Montalba Architects) Many designers believe lighting is a vital ingredient in warmly minimalist interiors. "Lighting completely changes a minimal space's ambience," says Smith. "Fragmented light projected through perforated metal or woven-cane lampshades becomes magical in pared-back interiors, adding subtle, ever-changing animation throughout the day." It may have seemed, not long ago, that reductive, stripped-down minimalist interiors had no future, that they represented a stylistic cul-de-sac. But architects and designers are demonstrating now that minimalist homes can combine clarity with comfort and practicality with style. If you would like to comment on this story or anything else you have seen on BBC Culture, head over to our Facebook page or message us on Twitter. And if you liked this story, sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter, called The Essential List. A handpicked selection of stories from BBC Future, Culture, Worklife and Travel, delivered to your inbox every Friday. |
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