Why Work-Life Balance Doesn't Exist

Work-life balance? Jimmy and James are here to dismantle the corporate fairy tale that you can magically split your life into two neat, equal halves.  

The hosts, both veterans of demanding jobs, long hours, and the occasional existential crisis, argue that the very term “balance” is a setup. Balance implies precision, equality, and a static state, but life (and work) is anything but. It ebbs, it flows, and sometimes it dumps a truckload of stress on your doorstep. So, what’s the alternative? Optimisation. Figure out what makes you happy: status, money, family time, or becoming an earth mother, and chase that. But be warned: if your job is rubbish, no amount of free fruit or gym memberships will fix it.

From Jimmy’s email-induced holiday rage to James’s accidental swearing in front of seven-year-olds, this episode is packed with real stories, dark humour, and advice that doesn’t require an MBA to understand. They tackle the absurdity of HR initiatives, the toxicity of rigid boundaries, and the importance of flow—both in work and in life.

Five key points:

• Work-life balance is a myth; it’s really about optimisation—what are you prioritising?
• Life isn’t static, so stop pretending your boundaries should be.
• The system is the problem, not the individual. Fix the work, not the worker.
• Role modelling matters. If you’re emailing at midnight, your team will think they should too.
• Enjoy your job. If you don’t, Monday mornings will always feel like a punishment.

Transcript

Speaker 4 0:03

Hello, I'm James. Hi, I'm Jimmy, and welcome to A Job Done Well. The podcast that helps you improve your performance and enjoyment at work

James 0:15

Good afternoon. How are you doing?

Jimmy 0:17

Afternoon, James.

James 0:18

I'm fabulous. I'm a bit hot, to be honest with you. A bit hot and sweaty. That's not what you need to know, is it?

Jimmy 0:22

very warm.

James 0:23

It's

Jimmy 0:23

no, it's,

James 0:24

all a bit clammy under this shirt. Anyway.

Jimmy 0:28

Yeah we're all a bit

James 0:29

Yeah.

Jimmy 0:29

we've been

James 0:30

So what are we talking about today then?

Jimmy 0:32

time, and

James 0:37

Okay

Jimmy 0:40

it's great in theory, but we're going to ex-explore the fact that work-home balance implies precision inequality, which is

James 0:48

Yeah

Jimmy 0:50

and an impossible goal. But we gonna share some of what we learned in years of demanding jobs, traveling around the the world and doing long hours

James 1:00

If you go on LinkedIn, as I try not to do, I have to admit, but there's just endless streams of posts about work-life balance and how you can achieve it. And HR teams, are campaigning about it. But it's really difficult, right? If you've got a demanding job and you've got young kids, as we, well, as we both have, your elderly parents, whatever else it might be, but it's little bit mythical how can you actually achieve that.

Jimmy 1:27

So we're gonna share our perspective on what you should perhaps be aiming for and what we've experienced in this space. Anyhow, we did put out a request a few weeks ago that if anyone has got any suggestions for subjects for season four to let us know. We will be back some point in September. So far, we haven't been inundated by messages requesting topics. So, maybe that's a

James 1:51

Maybe,

Jimmy 1:51

James. People don't want us back. Bear in mind,, the purpose of the podcast is to help middle managers who are caught up in big organizations, frustrated by systems who wanna perform better and enjoy their work more. And when we say m-middle managers, we mean everyone from like frontline m-team managers up to below the exec, really. And in fairness, if you're an exec, you should listen to this to understand what you're doing But the fact that we are stopping the podcast in the summer actually really underlines the subject that we're talking about today, because the reason why we stop over the summer It is because understandably, our audience numbers drop massively during holidays. 'Cause, while people are away on holiday, they don't wanna think about work and work-related stuff. So it's perfectly understandable, but from our perspective, takes a lot of effort to put these

James 2:42

Yeah, it's not actually thrown together

Jimmy 2:44

takes... It's, yeah, it's not like 20 minutes of us chatting. It is actually days' worth of work to get this polished performance that we put in. So it doesn't really make sense for us in terms of the effort versus reward for our audience. So that's why we just say, "When it's holiday time, let's let's stop." So setting some boundaries, which is a good segue into this

James 3:04

So go on then. Work-life balance. Is this some sort of myth? Is it a buzzword? What do you think?

Jimmy 3:11

It's a bit of both, James, because I think it's something that's been talked about more and more over the last... I don't know. I don't know. Early in my career, I didn't hear anything about this. It wasn't a subject. It's probably the last 10,

James 3:24

maybe. Yeah

Jimmy 3:25

Something like that, in terms of really getting

James 3:30

A bit of a unicorn. It's this sort of searching for perfection. You can have this, you can have it all. Well, can you?

Jimmy 3:36

I'm not being pedantic because actually I think words are important. The fact that we call it work-life balance. Balance to me implies precision and it implies equality, and actually it's... No, work and life is not like that. It can't be that precise or that prescribed. So I do think it is, something that people aim for, aspire to, because I think the concept is good. Don't let work take over your life. Enjoy life outside of your work. Get everything in its place. But I think is a bit of a, an

James 4:12

Well, I am. I'm a bit more cynical. I know you'll find this very hard to believe, but I'm a bit more cynical. Yeah. So I tell you what I think it's about, right? It's, Oh, there's a bit of HR bashing gonna happen here, but it's just some sort of HR initiative. What it really means is they've realised that there are too many people who've got really shit jobs that they really don't like doing, and they're trying to balance it out a little bit. So really it's about, if you if you have a bad work-life balance, it's because you're busy doing a job that you hate. There's a thought for you

Jimmy 4:42

I'm not sure I agree with that. I do think you're right as in it's often comes from HR, but I think it's like the, our personal intention towards work-life balance is we wanna, y- we want to make sure that work doesn't take over our lives. the concept I think that HR teams often espouse, and many leaders espouse, is from the same principle. I just think it's really often it's cack-handed in how it's delivered. So I think it comes from a, in a good space, but I'm not sure the delivery matches up to the intention

James 5:17

Well, and for me, I think it's not really about balance at all. I think it's about optimization. So the question is, what are you optimizing around? When will you know you're having a good life? So if you are optimizing around status, that's one thing. If you're optimizing around money, that's another thing. If you're optimizing around being home with your kids, that's a different thing. And if you're optimizing around, I don't know, being an earth mother, there's a different thing altogether. So it's not about balance, I don't think. It is about achieving what is important to you. And I have a I have a mate, my mate John, and I started working with John, and he has gone and he has done amazing things in his career. He's, sort of galactic vice president of this, that and the other And he earns more money than I could, imagine. But it's come at a cost. John lives out in Kuala Lumpur, and he works, and he sees his family once every three months when he gets back to Heathrow. And his fa- her family live in Surrey, very nice house in Surrey, near the airport. And the question is that work-life balance? Now, I'm looking at it thinking, "You're nuts, John. Do you need the money?" But who the hell am I to judge? Because, yeah, it really is it's not for me to say what, with my beliefs, whether or not he's got a balance or not. So I think the real challenge is not so much balance, it's about being clear what you're trying to optimize around, and whether that makes you happy. So I suppose that's my thought on balance.

Jimmy 6:48

I think that's a really good summary, James. Deciding what's important to you and then being intentional about your choices, 'cause like you say, I mean, John could be... that could

James 6:57

Yeah

Jimmy 6:58

to him that what his work is, and he might be very aware of what trade-offs and choices he's made and, we all do that, and we'll come onto our experience a bit where we've done forms of that in our life. Maybe not as extreme as John, but we've certainly made some trade-offs at times.

James 7:13

I suppose the other thing that's worth pointing out is you talk about balance, but there's this sort of... If you're balanced, it's something that's static. But the reality is work, well, life is not static. It

Jimmy 7:24

No.

James 7:24

ebbs and flows. Yeah? So, it ebbs with projects, it ebbs with the season. Well, as we say, it's summer, we're gonna knock off this 'cause nobody listens in the summer. But the same is true for everybody. So the whole concept of balance being this precise static thing is just nuts because as I said, work ebbs and flows, life ebbs and flows

Jimmy 7:46

Yeah. And unless your way of thinking and your processes and your practice ebb and flow a bit, you're in for hiding to nothing. I mean, I've worked with people who are very static in their thinking on work-home balance and very prescriptive, and it don't work. It causes massive problems. I was working with one exec at one point who was very rigid in their way of thinking about things, and the things that they wanted to do outside of work, never ever compromised. They stuck to their guns though it caused them and the team and the organization, in fact, some significant issues. And the flip side of it, what they were actually doing, know, if they had compromised once or twice wouldn't have caused any issues. But their thinking was, "This is a boundary and I stick to it always, regardless of what's happening." I think that approach is quite damaging to a lot of people around you.

James 8:42

So first of all, can you really separate work from life? Are they two distinct things

Jimmy 8:51

I don't think you can. I think they are so entwined, quite often people think very simplistically about hours. "I do this amount of hours, and I finish at six o'clock, and aren't I doing well because I'm managing my work-home balance? I go home at six o'clock." Whereas actually it can be attention, it can be energy, it can be mood, all of these things. Great example is, you've, you won't have watched, and I didn't watch the whole of it, but Severance.

James 9:20

I'm not good with the telly. Go on

Jimmy 9:22

is Severance is a program on TV, Basically the concept is the people have no memory of the other part of their life. So when they're at work, they have no or understanding of their home life or what happens at all. And vice versa. So the point is, that's supposedly the perfect balance It's totally unrealistic because, actually, if you had an argument with your partner in the morning, you're not turning up for work skipping, doing cartwheels, are you? and if you've had a tough day in the office and you're absolutely shattered, you, not suddenly full of energy, are

James 10:01

Well, I am, I actually, it's funny you should say that. I actually got caught out on this once. So my daughters went to a frightfully posh girls' school, and when they were in the primary school, there was an after-school club, and so you'd have to go and pick them up from after-school club. You had to pick them up between 5:30 and 6:00, something like that. And yeah, as we have all been, 5:30 to 6:00 is quite often when you're stuck on a call or something's gone belly up or whatever it is.

Jimmy 10:28

yeah

James 10:29

So I went in to pick my daughters up, But I've got two earplugs in, and in my head, I am in this God-awful car crash of a meeting where everything has gone belly up and some clown's just lost five million quid. At which point, upon hearing that, I said in my, most caring, sharing management way, "For fuck's sake, they didn't do that, did they?" Didn't realise where I was. There was all these, seven-year-olds stared at me open-mouthed for my my bad language. But no, you can't separate these two things. That's the point, yeah? And if you do, it goes badly for you

Jimmy 11:06

Part of it, is it work-home balance is setting up, yourself up for failure. It's more of a rhythm. It's a work-home rhythm or a work-home flow, 'cause that's how it is. Life is a bit more of a flow than it is like a

James 11:20

And they're all sort of, well, it's like waves, isn't it? There are all sorts of things which can take it one way or another. So, you might get a new job or a promotion which will drag you into work, or you might have children, or you might have some care and responsibility for some elderly relatives, which will drag you back the other way. So it does, it ebbs and flows, as I say. Yeah

Jimmy 11:40

Why do you think that

James 11:41

Well, it's just, it becomes another objective, another target. We are going to make sure that everybody has a stable work-life balance. And then because it's a target, it then becomes a sort of initiative-driven thing. What have we done as an organisation to allow people to have, A stable work-life balance? And, but organisations do some good things, right? They will put fruit out. Well, all right, it's nice to have free fruit. They will give people gym memberships. They will let people go at different times. All of these things are good. But I think it's missing the point, because the real issue in most organisations is not about time, it's about the quality of work that people have. And I think if you focused on giving people more rewarding work, then they wouldn't have such a big problem with it. So I honestly think it's misguided because it tends to be addressed by initiatives rather than addressing the cause of the problem. So let me give you an example. You will remember this phrase, "When I worked for Mars." No. In my in my... You remember that? I'm guilty of, about saying that before, but when I was in my very early 30s, I worked for Mars Confectionery, and I used to drive to Slough and back twice a week, and I had to be there by nine o'clock in the morning 'cause they had clocking on targets, right? Now, you would th- bearing in mind I live in Nottingham, and that's a good, what, two-and-a-half-hour, three-hour drive twice a week there and back you would think I would have hated doing that. But I was as happy as Larry getting in my car and driving to do that.

Jimmy 13:17

Yeah

James 13:18

was I as happy as Larry? Why was my life in balance? Because I had what, for me, rightly or wrongly, was a great job. And so the point about balance is, are you doing things that you enjoy doing? Because if you've got doing the things you enjoy doing, then then you will be happy. So I think the challenge is how do you create that environment for people?

Jimmy 13:35

Just to build on that, I think the intention behind, encouraging people to do-- to have a good work-home balance is, happy workers, productive workers, look after your people and all that sort of stuff, which I get. But I guess where I think it falls flat is often it's the responsibility of the individual, i.e. James, you have to manage your work-home balance. It's down to you. And a- but actually, to your point, as the organization, have created the system that piles work onto you relentlessly, puts pressure on you, and forces things the other way. So rather than address, the failures in the system or the failures in the workload, But that's okay 'cause I, I can sleep at night because I don't have to worry about the fact I'm dumping on you because actually I've told you to look after your

James 14:26

Yeah.

Jimmy 14:27

So, there you go

James 14:28

So your point was it was about the system, and I totally agree. So in one of our previous podcasts, we talk about, Oh, I can't pronounce his name. Mikhail cher- Do you remember?

Jimmy 14:38

Mi hai

James 14:38

Oh, very good. Anyway, his idea of flow.

Jimmy 14:42

you go.

James 14:43

But when you're in that state of flow, it's that balance between being anxious 'cause you can't do it, and being bored because you can do it. And actually, if you think about work, when you are fed up with your work, it's because you're either anxious or you're bored. It's one of those two things. But that really is about the system and the type of work that you've been given. It's not about prioritising and free fruit and getting home to see your kids on time. So really the question is: how do you create that system for people where they're in that state of flow? 'Cause if they're in that state of flow and they're enjoying what they're doing, then they won't worry so much about their work-life balance

Jimmy 15:21

and in a similar vein, I was doing a job where the work we did made a difference. It wasn't just to make profit for an organisation. We were there to help vulnerable customers. But the job I was doing meant that I had to go down to London on Sunday night, and I didn't come home till Thursday night. So I had, the majority of the week away from my family. I could do that because I felt that my work was meaningful. And so I guess some of it is about how you think about situation and, if you tell yourself your work's meaningful, then you'll think about it a certain way. I could have been resentful of the fact that I was doing that, I might have felt very differently about exactly the same situation, thinking about what's the story you have in your head? How do you think about it in a positive way rather than, "I regret doing that." I, Does your mate regret being away from home so much? You've almost got to be intentional about your reality. I'm going to do this job. I'm gonna do it really well. I'm going to enjoy it 'cause I'm making a difference. I'm not gonna necessarily live with the regret And there was a couple of other small things I was gonna mention around my experience of work-home balance. I got caught out once with email discipline, Now, you've got so many different channels, that can get to you Time. They're there. They're even in your bedroom with you. You know what I mean? So I was at Center Parcs once with with my kids, and as I walked through the car park to go and meet them I thought I'd just read a couple of emails. So I walk along being very efficient, and I read an email from a particularly nasty person that we worked with at the time, and it just pissed me off no end. I just thought, "You absolute wanker." Didn't... I thought, "I'm not gonna reply. Not gonna reply 'cause I'm on ho- on my holiday." And then the rest of the afternoon, went swimming, did all the Center Parcs things, cycle rides, food. And I realised, I was in a foul mood all afternoon as a result of reading this email. And I let that person into my holiday. So after that, I never made that mistake again. I just don't... if I'm away, I don't... I was really clear with everyone. I'm not gonna look at my emails. So, they had a way of getting in touch with me in the case of emergency, but this wasn't an emergency. This was just letting them in, you

James 17:42

Yeah.

Jimmy 17:42

shouldn't do. Another good example, not of my work-home balance, but I was talking to of the partners at one of the big four consultancy houses will remain nameless, they had worked out they had a problem with their work-home balance because their partners would... remember the exact age, but they would get them to retire. They'd force them to retire at f- like fifty-five. You had to retire. And they realized that they were the majority of them were dead before they were sixty because they had completely burned them out. And so whilst you earned a fortune, you weren't ever around to spend your fortune 'cause you died soon after you left. then had to, realizing that statistic, they then had to reorient how they were managing people and the balance and all the rest of the, that sort of things. But I thought, I thought that really brought it home to me that y- if you're not careful, there's an old-- there's a saying in football, "Leave it all out on the pitch." You wanna be careful when you do that,

James 18:40

no, we'll just leave it all out in the pitch mix

Jimmy 18:43

Well, just you throw all your

James 18:45

Ah, okay

Jimmy 18:46

Don't come off the pitch with one iota of energy left. Leave it

James 18:50

Yeah, a bit of a mistake. Yeah, and then what does it go

Jimmy 18:53

Yeah. How did that

James 18:54

But then I think those two stories really reiterate the sort of the dichotomy here. Because on the one hand, it's a question of what are you optimising around, right? What will make you happy? Is it about having time with your kids? But on the other hand, it really is about the system and the organisation you work with and yeah, are you burning out your partners or is it such a toxic environment that it's okay for people to send threatening emails?

Jimmy 19:18

Moving on to more practical takeaways, I think that's a great start, James. What are you optimising around? And being intentional about way you want your work and personal life to flow that's definitely one, sort of one way of thinking about it. I think there's a few other things. I think you can plan certain things, There are seasonal

James 19:41

Yeah

Jimmy 19:42

work, whether it's budget cycles or volume of work or campaigns or whatever it is. So to know that those times you might have to put a little bit more in, and therefore how you're gonna manage the compromises that might be. So back to my example about working in London all week. When I came home on Thursday, between Thursday and Sunday, I didn't do a lot of work. I spent time with my family.

James 20:08

Another one for me though I think is being explicit. So you need to be clear about what is right for you and what you are optimizing for. However, you also need to have that conversation with the people around you. Your boss needs to know that, and your partner needs to know that.

Jimmy 20:24

yeah

James 20:24

Yeah? Because it's okay for me to optimize around making as much money as possible. Is that what my partner wants? 'Cause, don't be surprised if you end up with a broken marriage if it isn't. And likewise, it's okay for me to optimize about spending as much time as I can with my kids, but is that what my boss wants? So being open and having those conversations really helps. Yeah, it's just negotiation really

Jimmy 20:47

Yeah, having some flexibility because I think setting boundaries is a good thing. Saying, I will go home on a Thursday night and I'll spend time with my kids and I'll prioritize my kids. And I did that generally. I didn't do it slavishly though, so there would be times when I would have to pick something up. I remember when I was appearing for the Treasury Select Committee, I spent the

James 21:08

Practising. Yeah, oddly

Jimmy 21:10

that. You know what I mean? I was practicing. So have boundaries, yes, but don't be slavish to them. Be a little bit flexible because that's the reality of working life

James 21:21

I think another point I would make is just be clear in your own mind what your circle of competence is. Where are you in that state of flow?

Jimmy 21:29

Right?

James 21:31

And then endeavor to stay in it. And I'm not saying you should never move out of your circle of competence, you clearly should. But do it when you choose to. Know when you're doing it. Don't get pushed out of it, know when you're doing it, 'cause that will help you remain calm and level-headed

Jimmy 21:46

A-a-another thing I think that is important is you've got to bear in mind that it's what's important to you, and it's an individual choice, one of my favorite say-sayings, as is comparison is the thief of joy. If you spend all your time comparing against what others are doing, your mate John's making

James 22:04

yeah

Jimmy 22:05

Does that mean that he's doing better than you? I remember sitting down with a former colleague of ours, and he had g-got involved in a business and it had grown, and he'd made a lot of money out of it, and I was like, "Wow, you made a fortune there. Well done." He was like, "Yeah, but I haven't seen my kids grow up, and I ended up getting divorced." And it's like, okay, maybe that wasn't the best work-home flow that you were managing. So I think don't compare what other people's decisions are to yours. Their circumstances will be completely different.

James 22:37

There's an e- very good example of that. I, well, I worked alongside a chap called Paul for a long time, and our jobs were similar. We used to both dart up and down the country endlessly, meeting here, left, right and flipping center. And it got to the point where Paul spent the most on expenses just because of the nature of the travel, but his all went on hotel bills. I spent a very similar amount on expenses, but mine all went on travel bills. Why was that? Because my pa- children were younger than Paul's, and I decided it was worth spending three hours on a train to get home and see my kids, whereas he decided it was worth being away from home and getting his head down and being able to get a good night's kip. And it, it really depends. The circumstances change depending on where you are in your life But I think there's another very important thing which we haven't touched on yet. So I will argue it's all about the system, yeah? It's not about you as an individual setting your pri- boundaries and prioritising all of that bollocks. It's about the system you work with. But this is all about us. I think the real, just as important, is you as a manager, 'cause you create that system for the people who work for you. So what should you do and should you not do with the guys who work for you, do you think?

Jimmy 23:50

Well, Back to my point about i-intentions. As, managers, same as organizations, and I know I've done this as well, is your intention is a good one. I want you to have, to enjoy your work. I want you to be productive. I want you to have a good life outside of work. So I will espouse the virtues and empower you to be-- to, make your decisions. Whereas I think a lot of it stops at words. You know what I mean? So we say the words, and So I think the key for me is what are the actions you take? What's the follow-through? Don't just say stuff. Give you an example. Some of it's how do you role model it? So think about your behaviors. Are you the first one in the office in the morning and the last one to leave at night? 'Cause if you are, you there are people around you who are feeling pressure and are staying later coming in earlier because they know that's what you do. if you say it, even if you say, "I don't want you to do this," they will

James 24:50

So I have a very good example of that.. My daughter's worked for a couple of people. She's 23 now. One of these people

Jimmy 24:56

Yeah

James 24:57

she had to go to the doctor's. My daughter, bless her, is, she's keen, young and enthusiastic, and she will work the hours and then some. She had to go to the doctor. Her manager at the time says, "Well, make sure you put the hours in." At which point She thought, "Well, I've been putting the hours in and some." Yeah. So what did she do after that? Well, she effectively worked to rule. "If you wanna count the hours, I'll count the hours as well." She worked for another bloke, and his attitude was, "Well, you're here to work 40 hours a week but I start my clock timing when I climb in the shower in the morning, because I recognize that's thinking time." But the way you behave has a fundamental difference on the people around you. So yeah,

Jimmy 25:36

Another good example of that behavior is how you

James 25:39

Yeah

Jimmy 25:40

So when do you send emails? And I think you have to be very explicit with people around you about your behavior with emails. Could give you a good example. When I was working in London, I would get to the point where in a day, early in the day, five thirty, six o'clock at the latest, the work I was doing was crap, right? So I'd stop, I'd go to the gym, and I'd have something to eat, and then I'd start, and I'd do an hour of work later in the evening. And I had to be really clear with my team that is because that suited me 'cause I'm away from home on a Tuesday night. If I was at home, I wouldn't want to do that, and I won't do it on Friday night when I get home. So being explicit to people about you're working in a way that suits your life, you want them to do the same, but that does mean that you are not expecting a reply to your email. When you send something at nine thirty at night, you're not expecting a reply. In fact, I would actively, if I got a reply from someone, be like, "What were you doing?" So there is a bit about role modeling and lead by example. An-another thing you can do as a manager is have some explicit conversations and help your team think through this. Back to the fact that it's a bit difficult to achieve, and everyone wants to do it, if you help your team think about what's important to them and make some intentional choices, you as a manager will

James 27:01

Well, yes. And actually, I mean, this is really, it's just about being a good boss. Yeah? Your job is to get the most out of the resources who are there working for you. If you burn them out, well, what do you expect?

Jimmy 27:17

I still love the way you talk about people and spreadsheets

James 27:20

Well, yeah, but, and it's just about good management, isn't it? Isn't it? It just is

Jimmy 27:25

It is, but I think actively rather than just the platitudes of go and work this out, I think actually helping people work it out, that's one of the things that you can do to really support your teams.

James 27:37

Oh yeah, and one final thought on that then actually is if you're worried about your own work-life balance, it's a lot easier to enjoy your job if the people who work for you are enjoying theirs. So yeah, it's actually in your interest, yeah. So go on then. Summary, what would you say?

Jimmy 27:55

So it's a very popular concept, often discussed, I think it's a fallacy in terms of balance being equal and precise. Life is more of a flow. So I think your advice is excellent, James, in terms of be intentional about what's important to you and your choices that you're making

James 28:15

Yeah, and optimise around that. Another thing I'd say is just make sure you enjoy your job. 'Cause if you enjoy your job, then you ain't gonna have that Monday morning feeling nearly as often. So find a job that you enjoy working for somebody that you enjoy working for in an organisation that fits you

Jimmy 28:33

I think other things is just rec-recognise that work changes, and it's more of a flow than a balance. And so there'll be times when work's demanding of you or your personal life is demanding, and that's all okay. Just go with the flow rather than setting just rigid boundaries that you always stick to regardless

James 28:53

And performance is about the system, not about the people. So telling people to prioritise really is not necessarily that helpful. Helping them with the system that they're working in, removing the obstacles, a much bigger effect

Jimmy 29:08

And modeling rather than just saying the words, "Work-home balance is important. I want you to have a good work-home balance." Role model what that is. Help them be more intentional about their choices.

James 29:20

And I th- and I think the final thing for me is just about sanity and common sense rather than some popularity

Jimmy 29:27

And it's an individual thing. So think about it from your perspective, what you're, what the answer for you, James, is different from the answer for me, and that's okay.

James 29:34

Lovely. Well, on that note

Jimmy 29:38

here endeth, h- here endeth the

James 29:40

I shall see you again in September, if not before

Jimmy 29:43

Well, I suspect I might see you before September, I hope everyone has a fantastic summer,

James 29:48

Cheers now

Jimmy 29:48

you soon

29:49

We cover a whole host of topics on this podcast, from purpose to corporate jargon, but always focused on one thing, getting the job done well. Easier said than done. So if you've got unhappy customers or employees, bosses or regulators breathing down your neck, if your backlogs are out of control and your costs are spiraling, and that big IT transformation project that you've been promised just keeps failing to deliver, we can help. If you need to improve your performance, your team's performance, or your organization's, get in touch at jimmy@ajobdonewell.com or james@ajobdonewell.com.