Good Life: The Art of Balancing Work and Leisure

Introduction 

Recognising the importance of play for children’s development, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which has set out “the right of the child to rest and leisure,” declared June 11 an International Day of Play. Also, recent research by Anglia Ruskin University suggests that leisure activities like painting, knitting, or pottery can enhance well-being more than work. 

However, while over-identifying with a job can cause stress, not having one can also contribute to anxiety and depression.

What is Leisure and what is its significance?

• Leisure is often seen as free time, but it more broadly refers to the freedom to choose whether or not to do something. 
  • For instance, unemployment is not leisure, as the person is forced not to work despite wanting to. 
• True leisure allows people to pursue activities like rest, hobbies, entertainment, sports, and travel, but only when there's a genuine sense of freedom. 
  • For instance, travel required for work loses the essence of leisure as the person is obliged to pursue them. 
• Leisure, unlike mere amusement, involves pleasure, happiness and living blessedly. 

Relationship between work and leisure

Work and leisure often complement each other, but can also can be contrasting at times.

Complimentary Relationship 

• Freedom of choice and intrinsic motivation: Robert Robinson once stated, "Leisure is work you volunteer for”. Thus, when a job is based on freedom of choice, it can feel like leisure.
  • For example, writing novels or columns for newspapers might feel like leisure to persons who enjoy reading and writing. 
• Ensuring well-being: Voltaire emphasised the beneficial aspects of work, stating, "Work banishes boredom, vice, and poverty." So, just like leisure, work can also contribute to the well being of people.
  • For example, employment allows people to form relationships and improve emotional control, which helps overcome trauma and improves problem-solving skills.

Contrasting Relationship

• Freedom vs. Responsibilities: Leisure characterised by freedom and enjoyment, improves creativity, performance, and job satisfaction. 
  • Work on the other hand often requires effort and responsibility, driven by external expectations and goals. It promotes financial security, personal development, and a sense of accomplishment but can be tiring.
  • Thus, even leisure activities, such as sightseeing, reading, or playing, can lead to fatigue, anxiety, and bad health when performed owing to work commitments.
• Self-Expression vs Personal growth: Performance below a certain standard may not be acceptable in workplace. However, excessive effort to satisfy these standards could jeopardise one's capacity for self-expression, a crucial aspect of leisure. 
  • For example, school education ceases to be a joyful learning activity when students are forced to cram information without understanding its meaning, solely for the sake of excelling in academics and future careers.

The complimentary and contrasting relationship of work and leisure underscores the necessity of striking a balance between the two in order to have fulfilling good life. 

Factors that make it difficult to maintain a balance between Work and Leisure 

• Workplace culture: A capitalist workplace culture pushes employees toward job creeps, expectation of perfectionism and encourages extra hours to get noticed or promoted, leading to a constant cycle of overwork.
  • Job creep happens when a person performs tasks that are outside the agreed scope of their job. 
• Technological advances: Technology like email and cell phones has blurred the line between work and home, making it hard to disconnect.
• Desire for overearning: Some people work beyond their needs due to uncertainty about the future or the desire to bequeath wealth, often working until they're exhausted rather than satisfied.
• Hustle culture: Society often glorifies being busy as a sign of success, encouraging people to constantly push themselves, further diminishing leisure time.

Way Forward for ensuring work and leisure coexist harmoniously

• Positive work culture: Promote positive work culture by adopting participative democratic leadership styles, fostering open communication, organizing team-building activities at the workplace, etc.
  • Giving workers an extra day off a week actually increases productivity, boosts physical and mental health (feeling of being happier) and reduces CO2 emissions (WEF). 
• Bounded rationality: Instead of pursuing perfectionism, bounded rationality should be accepted and people should be allowed to fail sometimes in some works.
  • The term ‘bounded rationality’ refers to rational decision-making that considers the cognitive limitations of the decision-maker.
• Embrace flexibility: While technology has blurred boundaries, it also offers flexibility. 
  • Flexible hours and hybrid working enhance job satisfaction and productivity by allowing employees to balance work and personal life. 
• Set boundaries: Clearly define work hours and stick to them. Avoid checking work emails or taking calls outside these hours to maintain a separation between work and home life.

Conclusion

Both Aristotle and Rabindranath Tagore emphasize the importance of leisure in cultivating a fulfilling life. Aristotle argues that true leisure allows individuals to engage in noble pursuit hat nurture virtue, such as music, poetry, and philosophy. Similarly, Tagore warns that without leisure, we risk becoming mere workers, performing tasks mindlessly without any deeper purpose.