Most of us have many responsibilities outside of work. How can we balance it all, though? Join me as we talk about a term that was new to me: work-life integration.

Of course we’ve all heard and read about work-life balance, a phrase I’ve known for years but never much liked to use because to me it implies, first, that work and life are separate things, and second, that balance–in terms of having just the right amount of each–is possible. And in my experience it hasn’t been. So then I’ve felt like I was doing it wrong. 

Recently, though, I read about the phrase “work-life integration,” and did some investigating into what it means and how it differs from work-life balance. Interestingly, most of the articles I found addressed the topic from the employer’s perspective, rather than the employee’s, offering suggestions for how business owners or managers can create a workplace that meets individual needs in a way that boosts both individual and company productivity. The concept and discussion are, nevertheless, worth considering for employees and the self-employed.

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Definition: The concept of work-life integration is perhaps best understood by how it differs from the traditional concept of work-life balance.

There is a difference between work-life balance and work-life integration: 

“Work-life balance is focused on keeping your work life and your personal life separate, but equal, whereas work-life integration is centered on the belief that there is no distinction between the two and that both must coexist in harmony.” [Stephen Kohler, CEO and Founder of Audira Labs, quoted in Work-Life Integration is the New Work-Life Balance. Is Your Team Ready?] 

Another way of saying it: “While work-life balance typically emphasizes maintaining a healthy divide between our professional and personal life, work-life integration seeks to find a way for both aspects to coexist peacefully. . . . As opposed to work-life balance, which implies scales tip in one direction or another, work-life integration suggests finding harmony.” [from Work-life integration: What it is and 5 ways to develop it – emphasis mine] 

“Rather than having distinct periods where you work for hours and then go home to do personal activities or spend time with your family, work-life integration involves working and doing personal activities when they make the most sense. An example of this is completing more work early in the morning so that you can attend a dentist’s appointment in the afternoon without taking time off.” [from Work-Life Integration vs. Work-Life Balance: Key Differences]

Evolution: The concept of work-life integration has developed in response to changing work environments, technology, and societal expectations.

Remote work, flexible hours, and technology have blurred the lines between personal and professional life, necessitating a shift toward integration. This is magnified by the diverse needs of the workforce, including different generations, parents, singles, and those with caregiving responsibilities, and how integration accommodates these varied needs. 

“The pandemic spurred a work-life integration that spiraled into a brimming burnout crisis. 95% of human resources executives admit that employee burnout is a leading cause of workforce turnover. Thus, enabling a healthy work-life balance is a major challenge for organizations today. The rise in remote work has also blurred the lines between personal and work time, making it more difficult to achieve work-life balance. And due to the rise in business demands, work schedules have become more hectic.” [from Work-life integration: What it is and 5 ways to develop it]

The article goes on to say, “With work-life integration, you efficiently coordinate your workday schedules and personal responsibilities, ensuring personal and professional productivity and higher satisfaction. But work-life integration isn’t about finding a ‘perfect’ balance between work and life.  It’s about finding a balance that works for you. It’ll look different for everyone and change over time as your circumstances change.”

Benefits of integration over balance: Integration can lead to enhanced productivity and job satisfaction by allowing individuals to work in more natural rhythms and align work with personal values.

• Flexibility – Work-life integration means you can choose when to do your job work and when you do other things, as opposed to having set hours for work and non-work activities. 
• Personalization – The idea of work-life integration is that each individual can craft a schedule that works best for them and their situation. Work-life balance, on the other hand, tends to mean that the company establishes a basic schedule for all employees while encouraging concepts such as getting the work done during work hours and actually leaving work behind when those hours are over.  
• In a Fortune article, Arianna Huffington has said,

“‘Work-life integration’ is a definite improvement because it’s based on the idea that when we bring our whole selves to work—whether in-person or remote—we don’t have to choose between success in our work and success in other parts of our lives. . . . Life-work integration is about embedding well-being into the workflow itself.”

Boundary Management: Taking the work-life integration approach means you need to be more intentional and disciplined about establishing boundaries between work and personal life because you likely are moving more fluidly between them. Especially if this is in conjunction with working from home, you can do work tasks any time of the day (or night). It requires discipline to make sure that doesn’t morph into all day and all night. Conversely, it also requires discipline to know when to stay on task and avoid letting personal or household tasks serve as a convenient distraction from difficult work tasks.  

• Make a point of scheduling time in your week for friends, family, relaxation, and self-care. 
• Use tools like a Pomodoro timer to stay focused on work tasks. 

Technology can facilitate integration when used wisely but here, too, boundaries are necessary to prevent burnout.

Mental Health and Well-being: Consider the impact of work-life integration on mental health and well-being, emphasizing the need for self-care and mindfulness practices. 

Organizational Culture: Your company’s culture might not support–or might even actively hinder–work-life integration, depending on leadership styles, communication norms, and the provision of resources. If you work for such a company, you might need to do some research on the experience of other companies that have taken steps to encourage integration and gather data to present the idea to company leadership with suggestions for how it can be done, such as flexible work schedules, remote work, wellness programs, and supportive leadership practices.

I found a lot of resources talking about work-life integration and how to implement it. Suggestions included:

1. Talk to your family and consider their schedules so you can organize your personal time to be available when they are. 
2. Obviously talk to your employer to make sure they’re on board. 
3. Think carefully about what matters to you as you structure your days and weeks. Acknowledge how the different elements of your life affect each other and look for ways to bring them into harmony. 
4. If your employer doesn’t create a firm schedule for your workday–or if you work for yourself–create your own weekly schedule that makes time for the work and personal tasks that matter to you. This doesn’t have to be set in stone. It might vary from one week to the next, or you might experiment with different schedules, tweaking as you go  
5. Set your own boundaries, but be flexible. One of the benefits of the work-life integration concept is the ability to adjust to changes when things don’t go as planned–a child gets sick (or you do), or an unexpected client crisis calls for an “emergency” meeting or conference call. 
6. Think strategically about how you use technology. Staying connected can be important, but letting our phones dominate our time and attention can interfere with key elements of productivity, whether it’s focused work or being present with our spouse, child, or friend. 
7. Start small. One article urges us to “Avoid attempting radical changes all at once. Instead, adopt one strategy at a time and gradually tweak your habits. . . . Set realistic goals. Maintain honesty about what you can realistically achieve and refrain from setting excessively lofty expectations. Remember: progress, not perfection, is the goal.”  
8. Rethink what “balance” actually means and think how our work and personal lives can actually complement, rather than compete with, each other. Example from one article: “Life-work integration is about embedding well-being into the workflow itself.” Work-life integration acknowledges that some days won’t be “balanced” but can still be productive. 
9. There are tons of resources available to help understand and implement this concept. I will link to several in the show notes in case you want to learn more about how you can implement it in your own life or negotiate with your employer to create a workplace that supports it. 

An article on LinkedIn summarized it this way: “Work-life balance may be more suitable for those who prefer clear boundaries between work and personal life, while work-life integration may be more suitable for those who value flexibility and adaptability. Ultimately, the most effective approach may be a combination of both work-life balance and work-life integration, depending on an individual’s unique needs and circumstances. The key is to find a balance that works for you and allows you to maintain both your personal and professional goals without sacrificing one for the other.”

What do you think?