Work-life fit: The New Work Trend You Need To Know About

For years, the trend of work-life balance has been a driver for conversations of employee well-being and the future of work. However, a new trend that improves upon this topic is surfacing—work-life fit. 

This shift is particularly important for frontline workers, both full or part-time, who often face unique challenges in their roles when it comes to finding balance. 

We’ll explore what work-life fit means, how it differs from work-life balance, and practical strategies to help you achieve work-life fit in your own life..

What is Work-Life Fit?

Work-life fit is all about developing a synergy between your work life and your personal life. Doing so in a way that doesn’t create ‘divides’ and ‘rules’ that may not always align with your needs in your current period of life. 

Unlike work-life balance, which usually implies a 50/50 split for work and personal priorities, work-life fit acknowledges that different people have different priorities for work and their life, and to embrace that. 

For frontline workers, this may mean picking up more shifts during times when you have less personal obligations (like school or family), and toning back your availability when personal obligations pick up. This approach supports your well-being and priorities in life, while also recognizing the times when you should work more or less to fit this. 

Here are some examples by industry to provide context into what this may look like for your work and life.

 

The differences from Work-Life Balance

Work-life balance suggests a requirement for having an equal balance of work and personal commitments. However, this concept can be unrealistic for frontline workers who may have irregular hours, high physical demands, and less flexibility. 

Work-life fit, on the other hand, promotes a more personalized approach, considering individual circumstances and preferences. This shift to work-life fit is driven by the need for a more adaptable framework for managing life’s different demands.

 

Why Do You Want to Reach Work Life Fit?

There are several reasons why you’d want to achieve work-life fit rather than sticking to the work-life balance trend, including:

Improved Well-Being: Cultivating a lifestyle that allows you to work a few extra hours without guilt or take time off for self-care.

Increased Job Satisfaction: When your work schedule aligns with your personal life, job satisfaction tends to increase. You’ll be happier to show up to work, enjoy your work more, and your employer will notice! 

Better Productivity: When you’re happy, well-rested, and feel aligned with your commitments, you’ll be more productive and engaged at work, too. Your boss and employer definitely align with this aspect.

 

How to Achieve Work-Life Fit in Your Career

Now, sometimes these new trends sound great but are hard to implement. Here are some steps to follow and tips so you can actually reach work-life fit.

Define What’s Important in Your Personal Life

The first step to shifting away from a ‘forced’ approach with work-life balance, is to understand the important personal commitments in your life. 

Is it friends? Family? Time to yourself? Time for hobbies? Define what that looks like and you’ll have a better idea of how to work that into your schedule and day-to-day.

Define What Drives You at Work

The next step, define what drives you at work. 

What are the top areas of your job or work that get you excited? What work helps you enter flow state? What parts do you find more enjoyable? Once you know this, you can also try to double-down on this type of work throughout the year. 

For instance, if you prefer the morning-shift duties and your personal commitments get busy in the evening, but you currently work afternoon shifts, it’s time to make a change.

By defining what drives you both in your personal and professional life, you can better align these priorities to have a life you love. 

Effective Time Management

Building work-life fit for yourself as a frontline employee is all about effective time management. 

First, make sure you’re using your time wisely when it comes to fitting in your work and personal responsibilities. Being efficient with your time in certain areas can open up more time for other important to-dos. 

Use your work break time effectively. Take your allotted breaks and if you feel called to, use this time to get other activities done, if time permits. This could look like fitting in some homework or doing personal research during your work lunch. 

Scheduling important tasks, planning ahead, and making a to-do list are all important aspects of effective time management.

Employer Support

Employer support is essential to work-life fit. Without a supporting employer, it will be hard (but not impossible) to reach the flexibility you need in order to achieve work-life fit. 

Begin by asking your employer if they are open to adjusting some of your shifts to meet those important personal priorities you defined earlier. You can let them know the goals you’re trying to achieve by reaching a better fit for your work and life responsibilities. 

Most of the time your manager will want to work with you to achieve the fit you’re looking for. This may mean adjusting your availability, changing the location you work at, opening up shift swap capabilities, or even changing shift times altogether. 

Understand the “Seasons of Life”

Like the 4 seasons in nature, we have ‘seasons in life’.

Some ‘seasons in life’ require you to work more, less, or have different types of flexibility in the work-day. Recognizing this will help you reach work-life fit so you can make time for important personal commitments without sacrificing the need to work and be fulfilled by the work we do. 

Diving into this with an example, let’s say that celebrating your friends birthdays is a very important aspect of your personal life. In order to achieve this, you’ll need to continue to work in order to save money and pay the bills, but also make time to visit those important friends. This may look like picking up a few extra shifts from coworkers that call in sick or don’t want to work that day. Or finding additional shifts for other nearby employers on a local Job Portal that fit your hours. So, you can take extended periods of time off without worry.

Ultimately, to give you the freedom to spend time with your friends and have time for those important personal commitments. Which may have been hard to achieve if you’re stuck with the “work-life balance” mentality and didn’t work those extra hours. 

 

Final Thoughts

You can see why work-life fit is the future of work. The old trend of work-life balance doesn’t consider the changing priorities or needs many of us have in life. Not everything is 50/50 and thus forcing major priorities in our life around work and personal life creates unnecessary stress. 

Leading with work-life fit will allow you to have a more fulfilling life, appreciate your work at a deeper level, and excel at what you love to do. All while finding balance at the end of the day.