HAPPY HOURS

Posted by: sanjay_jha | Comments | DC

In one of the foreign banks that I had worked in earlier, there was this strange, rather  peculiar culture. The big boss, for some godforsaken reason, discovered his motivation for decision-making only after popular bar-hubs were open for Happy Hours. As we watched the golden sun making a shimmering exit, our hearts sank. At least, mine did. But there was a vast, silent majority that would usually hang around , meandering aimlessly, writing copious reports, smiling at the bad jokes of the mighty One, and looking prodigiously occupied. Believe me, I could never quite fathom the productivity levels at that sunset hour and beyond, despite the perceptible bravado on display.  Often, the evenings extended into dinner time, and before long, one was headed home well  past the midnight hour. The young aggressive breed who were the regular hangers-on, who would return to office the next day, bleary-eyed and half-asleep, felt like heroes who had just captured some Himalayan peaks. " You know, last night I slept at 2 am , man". It was a fashionable statement to make. My point is, work-life balance, is not just a modern-day fad; it's been prevalent in some places from time-immemorial. Only today, it has become a virtual epidemic.

I guess, everything in life, has some or the other trade-off. If you want to party hard, you have to forget the sweating out at the gym. If that next deal could be a career-changing one, you might have to skip that little movie with your daughter that you had promised her. Unhappy with your current job; sure, you can move on, but even at a better compensation, there are a lot of unknown devils to be encountered. Work-Life balance  actually follows the same principle, but tries to help find the point of equilibrium.

The other day I met an old friend of mine, who looked far beyond his age, thanks to a slightly protruding tummy ,dark circles, a clear slouch and  a much harried expression. He travels incessantly, obviously burns the midnight oil and rarely takes that casual break. When I quizzed him about it, he had a solid,  rational explanation to give; " I am doing it all for the family". Sure, but is that what the family really wants?  And therein may lie the answer to work-life balance.

Thanks principally to a booming economy sustained over the last four  years , we have seen a surge of extraordinary business opportunities in practically every field. This has led to higher incomes, lifestyle habits, job and peer pressures, more travel, and aggressive ambitions. The situation has been aggravated by constant jostling, even in-flight, maddening stress on account of inadequate infrastructure to back the required pace across all metropolitan cities , declining talent quality and thereby poor support, and often unreasonable self-imposed expectations. I have never seen corporate India as burnt-out as this before. The recent growth sluggishness , thanks to the Wall-Street melt-down, will only accentuate matters.

Work-Life balance involves a mature and deep understanding and practise of several healthy principles, a disciplined approach and attitude  and certain behavioral changes. For the moment, though, let me keep it simple and focus on just two aspects that could help one make that leap towards a balanced scorecard ( pun intended). Firstly, one must know one's own priorities in life. This one calls for self-introspection, and a little conversation within, in all stark honesty, without any external influences. If one is consciously aware about the key issues that dominate your life, that really matter to you, you will subconsciously enough not allow relatively distracting or trivial issues to derail you. The mind somewhere works as an auto-check, and restores purpose, direction, and sanity, should one get temporarily off-track. Our life priorities, which can change, according to circumstances and with time, become like a guiding post-sign. They show you the way, invariably.

The second basic element, is managing your time. I have seen several people allow a drift to happen, for no real justifiable reason, whether it is to a meeting, discussion, travel, or schedule on account of a laid-back casual approach to time. It's ridiculous and self-defeating , as things quickly mount, adding horizontal layers of pressure, and often throwing our lives haywire. It helps to be realistic about time, to be well planned and prepared , and budget for all potentialities. And also impose a self-imposed line somewhere which should be sacrosanct. For instance, no matter what the urgency, I refuse to take or initiate office calls after 6 pm as I do believe that the sky is not going to fall over our heads ,no matter how critical things might be. Frankly, nothing really happens; it's just that we are allowing ourselves to get conditioned to that  emergency crisis scenario. It is an unnecessary investment of precious heartbeat. We end up making a major mountain of a miniscule molehill.

Start with just two simple acts; revisit your life priorities, and manage your time intelligently. And remember, at Happy Hours, head home. Or  for a jog. Listen to music. Or just hang-out doing nothing. And discover what happy hours are really all about.