Is Work-Life Balance Dead?

What is HTML All The Things

HTML All The Things is a web development podcast and discord community which was started by Matt and Mike, developers based in Ontario, Canada.

The podcast speaks to web development topics as well as running a small business, self-employment and time management. You can join them for both their successes and their struggles as they try to manage expanding their Web Development business without stretching themselves too thin.

What's This One About?

In this episode Matt and Mike discuss a rather popular topic as of late, work-life balance. With many active discussions going on about the 4-day work week and mental health, the topic of work-life balance is not far behind. The COVID-19 pandemic has made working from home (remote working) has far more common, however, with some employers realizing that employees can be reached virtually any time, work-life balance can take a serious hit. The duo discuss their own work-life balance struggles, the issues that being constantly "plugged in" can cause, and the anxiety of trying not check your work emails/messages.

Show Notes

2:33 - Introduction
7:00 - Do you believe in work/life balance?
18:00 - Do you think constantly being at the ready, on-call without actually being on-call is bad for mental health?
27:25 - Do you consider having phone/internet connection when going somewhere?

38:21 - CodeCast Sponsor Spot

40:50 - Showwcase Sponsor Spot

51:45 - How quickly do you check your phone?
57:10 - Does having too much passion for your work potentially hurt your work life balance?
67:05 - Many people are on salaries, should there be some sort of overtime terms negotiated so that employers are invested in work/life balance?
72:45 - Do you ever get derailed by work emails or calls during your off time?
76:05 - Is work/life balance dead? Do we need to fight for it?

Key Takeaways

Temporary spurts of an imbalanced life can lead to better balance in the future
Make it ok to take a sick day!
As a leader in the workplace, set the precedent of work life balance.
Sometimes you've got to think of the people around you, if you're a passionate worker that does a bunch of free work for your company, how does that effect the normal workers around you?