We live only one life, in one time.

One of the unexpected consequences of starting my own business was the discovery that I could create a work life based not only on my skills, but also my personality, values and interests. I didn’t have to leave any parts of the Real Ian out of my business. In my 2009 book ‘Juggle! Rethink work, reclaim your life,’ I argued that it was work-life integration we should be striving for, rather than work-life balance. Integrating our multi-dimensional selves into who we are and what we do at work, rather than leaving anything out.

This is what Morten Albæk calls ‘one life.’ It’s also the title of his book that I picked up after reading an interview with him in Monocle magazine. I was struck by what Morten writes about us having one ‘indivisible’ life, and the dangers of segmenting our life - and our time - into work and leisure etc. After all, we don’t just get up and go to work, we get up and go out into our lives. Here’s a passage from the book:

“If we divide time, we divide life. And if we divide life, we divide ourselves. This split has caused and justified different demands being placed on different parts of life. We are led to believe that the needs and aspirations we have outside of work don't need to be accommodated and fulfilled when we are at work, and vice versa. We start talking about professional development on the one hand and personal development on the other, as if they were wildly different parts of our body and life. But we are just one person: a human being who should, of course, develop throughout life. When drawing up life's balance sheet, we don't enter items in separate personal and professional columns. Even if we did, there would still only be one total on the bottom line. All things being equal, when we ultimately take stock of our lives, we have a much greater chance of it being meaningful if we look at life as a coherent whole and focus on equilibrium in the totality of our lives rather than seeking to sub-optimize individual parts and dimensions of it.”

I wonder what changes we might make when we reframe our approach to Work, and acknowledge we are one person living one life?!