As I write I am looking forward to the holiday I’ll be on when you read this posting.  I was curious today about the following question, posted on the Human Resources UK forum on LinkedIn:  Work/life balance – what is the right percentage?  This is what I wrote by way of response:

Percentage of what? Are you assuming that this is a matter of how much time an individual spends on work and on other-than-work? My experience suggests that this may be missing the point.

For example, the person who is in the wrong job – one that is not a good match for his skills and underlying sense of purpose – may lack work/life balance no matter what the hours he works. Or the person who has become wealthy and retired early and yet who lacks a sense of what to do with all that time may also struggle. At the same time, the person whose work is offering challenges which in turn provide deep learning and healing for the soul may be fulfilled in ways which spill over into every corner of his or her life even whilst the balance of time between work and home is totally precarious.

So here’s a question for you and others – what if time has nothing to do with work/life balance?