The Myth of "Work-Life Balance" Looking at my own life and the lives of the people I work with reveals work-life balance is an unachievable myth. When I think about balance my brain pictures a scale, like the scales of justice but with three plates; work, personal/home and sleep. Each day has 24 hours or "chips" to place on one of the three plates. Balance is achieved by placing eight chips on each plate. Rarely do I experience a balanced day. It's the rare exception and not a sustainable state. Change is the norm. There is too much variance in my life to keep the chips evenly spread across the scale. One unexpected event throws my balance all out of whack. Work-Life Balance may not only be unachievable but undesirable. Maintaining balance implies reacting to change and variance. Balance implies a static state; no movement. Once balance is achieved we do what we can maintain it. A focus on balance can make us "change-averse" in a world tha...