In you landed on this article, it means you are probably burnt out, stressed out or exhausted at work. Fret not, you are not alone as more than half Malaysians reported experiencing work-related stress at work according to this survey.
51.5% working Malaysians experience at least one form of work-related stress, and 12% experience high level of mental health issues like depression and anxiety.
Work-life balance has become a sought after commodity in the current burnout society. In this article, we will explain what work-life balance really means, how you can practice it more effectively, as well as offer you 30 work-life balance quotes from philosophers across the centuries.
Disclaimer: While these quotes aim to assist in alleviating burnout by offering alternative perspectives on work and life, they should not be viewed as the sole remedy for burnout. If you are experiencing high level of stress and burnout, we strongly recommend you to seek professional help.
As our attempt to combat the burnout culture in Malaysia, we encouraged Malaysians to slow down their pace in life and practice a more mindful living at Live Love Labour Festival 2023.
What is Work-Life Balance?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, is “the amount of time you spend doing your job compared with the amount of time you spend with your family and doing things you enjoy”.
Fun Fact 💡
There exists an implicit assumption that the 40-hour workweek has been the longstanding standard for centuries. We often envision medieval peasants enduring monotonous lives, working tirelessly from sunrise to sunset. However, this is not the case. During pre-industrial times, humans work as little as 3 hours a day and work was regarded as more of an informal and casual way to kill time and sustain life. Subsequently, work-life balance is a concept that was popularised during early Industrial Revolution period when work began to occupy a disproportionately large portion of the average worker’s day, thereby becoming a concept foreign to and distinct from "life."
In contemporary society, achieving work-life balance isn’t solely about dividing time equally between work and personal life. Owing to economic pressures, achieving this kind of work-life balance often proves unfeasible. In 2016, the Department of Statistics Malaysia revealed that 83.8% of employees in Malaysia were engaged in working more than 40 hours per week. And as a result of internalising a culture emphasising constant productivity, leisure or the supposed “life” component has often been commodified and transformed into yet another form of productivity, at times relegated to just another task on the schedule rather than serving as a genuine respite from work-induced stress.
We hope the following quotes can inspire you to look beyond the pre-existing notions and practices of work-life balance and empower you to to reimagine alternatives to well-being that integrates work and life harmoniously.
30 Work-Life Balance Quotes by Philosophers Across the Centuries
- “In an achievement-oriented society, freedom does not mean the absence of constraints; rather, it means choosing one’s constraints.” – Byung-Chul Han
- “There is no such thing as work-life balance. Everything worth fighting for unbalances your life.” – Alain de Botton
- “It is not enough to be busy, so are the ants. The question is: what are we busy about?” – Henry David Thoreau
- “Our worth is not determined by the amount of work we accomplish.” – Wayne Muller
- “The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.” – Buddha
- “The whole life is but a point of time; let us enjoy it, therefore, while it lasts, and not spend it to no purpose.” – Plutarch
- “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “To do two things at once is to do neither.” – Publilius Syrus
- “It’s an absolute necessity to recognize the value of work in making sense of life and finding satisfaction in what we do.” – Alain de Botton
- “We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.” – Epictetus
- “We should always allow some time to elapse, for time discloses the truth.” – Seneca
- “No man is free who is not a master of himself.” – Epictetus
- “The person who has lived the most is not the one who has lived the most years, but the one with the richest experiences.” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
- “Today, one must justify one’s existence through work. One is nothing if one does not function. Laziness is disparaged; activity is glorified.” – Byung-Chul Han
- “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” – Confucius
- “Beware the barrenness of a busy life.” – Socrates
- “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.” – Lao Tzu
- “Lost time is never found again.” – Benjamin Franklin
- “Genuine leisure is beyond the measure of work. Leisure is time that is spent for itself, for its own sake.” – Byung-Chul Han
- “Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” – Marcus Aurelius
- “The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” – Bertrand Russell
- “Work-life balance is a concept that has led to a vast amount of unnecessary guilt and sense of failure. People who feel they are not working enough, or not spending enough time with their families, can often be found expressing a wish to be someone else.” – Alain de Botton
- “For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “Freedom is the recognition of necessity.” – Friedrich Engels
- “It is not that we have a short time to live, but that we waste a lot of it.” – Seneca
- “Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go.” – Hermann Hesse
- “Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have. Make the now the primary focus of your life.” – Eckhart Tolle
- “We need to learn how to want what we have, not to have what we want in order to get steady and stable happiness.” – Dalai Lama
- “Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced.” – Søren Kierkegaard
- “If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” – Bruce Lee
Final Thoughts
We hope the above work-life balance quotes can offer you fresh perspectives in finding a better balance between your personal and professional life.
As a gentle reminder to our burnt out readers, before moving on to another task on your to-do list, ask yourself: “Would it be catastrophic if I allowed myself a moment to rest?” The answer is likely a comforting no.