WEBVTT - Substance first, balance after that

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.

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<v Speaker 2>This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 2>tip is that as you are considering a new job

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<v Speaker 2>or any sort of career move, consider the substance of

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<v Speaker 2>the work first. Then you can address questions like work

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<v Speaker 2>life balance. Balance is not a good in its own right,

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<v Speaker 2>and if you seek out work for the schedule first,

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<v Speaker 2>you can wind up board or unhappy, which won't help

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<v Speaker 2>with your work life balance at all. Because I write

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<v Speaker 2>about issues of work and family, I sometimes hear from

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<v Speaker 2>people who are trying to find jobs that allow for

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<v Speaker 2>what we often call work life balance. People want to

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<v Speaker 2>be able to spend time in the evenings with their families,

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<v Speaker 2>or to be able to drop kids off at school,

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<v Speaker 2>or deal with the occasional during the work day personal

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<v Speaker 2>event without it being a crisis. I totally understand this.

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<v Speaker 2>Flexibility is a definite upside for me of running my own.

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<v Speaker 1>Business, but I didn't set out to have a flexible business.

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to write about what I wanted to write about,

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<v Speaker 1>and I know there have never been a lot of traditional,

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<v Speaker 1>well paying jobs that would allow me to do that.

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<v Speaker 1>The most profitable way to build my career was to

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<v Speaker 1>go out on my own. Flexibility turns out to be

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<v Speaker 1>a perk of my version of self employment, but it

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<v Speaker 1>is not the reason for my job choice. Unfortunately, I

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<v Speaker 1>hear from people who have gotten burned out in stressful

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<v Speaker 1>jobs and they start hunting for anything that will provide

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<v Speaker 1>more balance. And for a while, this can feel great.

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<v Speaker 1>If you used to travel every week and have people

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<v Speaker 1>call you at nine pm every night with stuff that

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<v Speaker 1>has to be done before eight am in the morning,

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<v Speaker 1>it is exhilarating to leave the office at four point

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<v Speaker 1>thirty knowing that no one is going to bother you.

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<v Speaker 1>You will glow with gratitude going to a school play

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<v Speaker 1>at eleven am knowing that no one is going to

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<v Speaker 1>give you grief about it, but and you knew there

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<v Speaker 1>was a butt coming here. Often, that glow fades in time.

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<v Speaker 1>You can't live on balance alone. Many of the people

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<v Speaker 1>who started out in those more stressful jobs did so

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<v Speaker 1>because they are ambitious people who like to be challenged.

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<v Speaker 1>They also like to be paid a lot. Jobs taken

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<v Speaker 1>primarily because they offer balance don't always meet those needs.

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<v Speaker 1>People wind up unhappy because they are bored. They start

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<v Speaker 1>feeling underpaid, then perhaps it's off to find a new job.

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<v Speaker 1>But again, if it needs to have a strict definition

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<v Speaker 1>of balance, this can cut off a lot of options.

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<v Speaker 1>If you declare that you will never travel for work,

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<v Speaker 1>that is going to limit you more than if you

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<v Speaker 1>are open to traveling two to three days a month.

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<v Speaker 1>If you declare that you will never take work home,

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<v Speaker 1>that is going to limit you more then if you

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<v Speaker 1>find a fascinating organization, or you can build a team

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<v Speaker 1>that gets good work done on reasonable timeframes. So here

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<v Speaker 1>is my take. I think it is best to focus

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<v Speaker 1>on substance first and balance after that. Figure out what

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<v Speaker 1>kind of work you'd like to do, or look for

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<v Speaker 1>a job where the core of your work is something

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<v Speaker 1>that excites you. Find colleagues who you find interesting and

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<v Speaker 1>fun to work with, then negotiate the balance you want,

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<v Speaker 1>or simply be bold and seize it. I have seen

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<v Speaker 1>this be possible for all sorts of jobs as people

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<v Speaker 1>gain seniority, and they might work in fields like law

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<v Speaker 1>or medicine or consulting or tech that aren't exactly known

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<v Speaker 1>for work life balance. But these jobs do tend to

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<v Speaker 1>be interesting and highly paid, So folks who want to

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<v Speaker 1>have a personal life figure out ways to keep working

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<v Speaker 1>and advancing while doing what they need to or want

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<v Speaker 1>to outside of work. You take an hour off in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle of the day to go to a kid's class,

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<v Speaker 1>but do a phone call at nine pm after your

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<v Speaker 1>kid is in bed, and you just don't make a

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<v Speaker 1>big deal about it. As you get more senior, you

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<v Speaker 1>can do more and more of what you want, leaving

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<v Speaker 1>in the middle of the day to meet a kid's

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<v Speaker 1>bus and continuing to work remotely after that. For instance,

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<v Speaker 1>if you are the top person on a team, people

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<v Speaker 1>do often figure out where to accommodate you beyond that reality.

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<v Speaker 1>I think the phrase work life balance is problematic for

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<v Speaker 1>all sorts of reasons. First, people tend to use it

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<v Speaker 1>to mean working less, but very few people spend most

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<v Speaker 1>of their hours working. There are one hundred and sixty

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<v Speaker 1>eight hours in a week. If you sleep eight hours

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<v Speaker 1>a night, so that's fifty six hours per week and

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<v Speaker 1>work forty hours per week, that leaves seventy two hours

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<v Speaker 1>for other things, that's almost twice as much time as

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<v Speaker 1>you are working. It's hard to see what's particularly balanced

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<v Speaker 1>about working thirty hours and having eighty two hours for

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<v Speaker 1>other things or working twenty hours and having ninety two

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<v Speaker 1>hours for other things. Those may be perfectly fine setups

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<v Speaker 1>for life, but they aren't exactly balanced. The phrase work

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<v Speaker 1>life balance also implies that work and life are at odds,

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<v Speaker 1>with the two on opposite side sides of the scale.

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<v Speaker 1>I am not sure that is the case. I know

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<v Speaker 1>that when I am working on something really exciting and

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<v Speaker 1>I feel like I'm winning at work, I have more

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<v Speaker 1>energy for everything. There's also nothing particularly balanced about tolerating

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<v Speaker 1>your work and even counting the hours until you get

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<v Speaker 1>to life, even if there aren't as many hours to count.

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<v Speaker 1>I suspect that a lot of people would be happier

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<v Speaker 1>working forty to forty five hours a week in work

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<v Speaker 1>they love than thirty five hours a week in work

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<v Speaker 1>where they'd feel bored and underpaid. Now, of course, if

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<v Speaker 1>the forty hour work week was also boring and underpaid,

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<v Speaker 1>that would be even worse. But when you like the

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<v Speaker 1>substance of your job, that is probably not going to

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<v Speaker 1>be the case. Substance first, balance, After that, that's the

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<v Speaker 1>recipe for a happier life and career than seeking out

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<v Speaker 1>balance above everything else. In the meantime, this is Laura,

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening and here's to making the most of

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<v Speaker 1>our times.

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<v Speaker 3>Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you. You can

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<v Speaker 3>send me your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just

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<v Speaker 3>connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before

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<v Speaker 3>Breakfast Pod. That's b E the number four then Breakfast pod.

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<v Speaker 3>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 3>Podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled

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<v Speaker 3>out with all the letters. Thanks so much. Should I

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<v Speaker 3>look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

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<v Speaker 3>production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the

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<v Speaker 1>They ga