Everybody is wrong about work-life balance

There is a lot of chatter online about work-life balance.

It’s craziness on both ends of the spectrum.

Some Indian corporates are asking their teams to work 90-hour work weeks, including Sundays!

On the other hand, the young workforce wants to work no more than a few hours daily - spending the rest of their time balancing life.

I believe both these approaches are dumb, sub-par, and ignore all nuance.

Balance is a personal conversation you need to have with yourself. I aim to give you some fodder for that conversation through this blog.

Origins of the Dilemma

The internet riled up when Narayana Murthy, one of India’s tech pioneers, said our work productivity is one of the lowest in the world and championed India’s youth to work 70 hours a week.

I think this is a sound line of thinking (we’ll dive into why).

However, it was later followed up by more craziness, such as this suggestion to work 90 hours a week for corporate employees.

I don’t think this is a sound line of thinking for obvious reasons.

Long story short, there are two conflicting ideas:

1. Work Hard: Work extremely hard and give back to society.
2. Enjoy Life: Live your own life; work is just a tiny part of it!

I believe this isn’t a choice to be made, but a dichotomy to be managed.

Let’s dive in.

My Personal Approach to Work

I live a life that some may call imbalanced.

I start working around 6 am, and you’ll find me at my desk till 11:30 pm.

I am truly “on” in work mode for close to 70 hours a week. When I’m not, I do things that help me improve at work or in life (such as reading or working out).

Despite all this, I’m pretty “balanced,” too.

I go to the gym six days a week, eat healthy, meet friends, and go for walks.

It’s surprising what you can get done when you don’t have distractions.

I don’t regularly watch movies or Netflix. I haven’t attended a family function in 10 years. I haven’t been on a real vacation. I have sacrificed some of my hobbies (such as playing the Bansuri). I regularly say no to parties and networking events.

Greatness does not come without sacrifice.

With all that said, this isn’t for everybody. Such an “imbalanced” lifestyle may be for 3-5% of the population.

My point is that you don't have to work less to achieve balance. You can achieve a healthy balance by reducing your life to its essential components and ruthlessly eliminating everything else.

The problem is that most people “balance” their work with unimportant things. Or worse, things that have detrimental second and third-order consequences. You don’t have time for anything because your life is cluttered with meaningless bullshit.

Eliminate it, and you will have time for a lot more than you think— and you will be happier, too.

An argument for imbalance

If you come from the no-nuance “work-life balance is crucial” militia, consider this:

Anything great is only accomplished through periods of imbalance.

Before you come at me with pitchforks, keyword: “periods of".

Even when you look at the early lives of successful people who NOW advocate for balance, their “build phase” was a period of imbalance. No one can run a parallel universe simulation, but I find it hard to believe they’d have been where they are now without the initial 5-10 years of grind.

Rome wasn’t built by people working 30-40 hours a week.

Narayana Murthy alludes to this in his original statement about the 70-hour work week; the actual amount of time doesn’t really matter. Given our current phase as a country, we have to work hard to enable unprecedented economic and social growth.

We owe it to ourselves and our motherland to be sincere in our efforts at work and in life.

• Does that mean you have to be crazy like me and work 70 hours a week? Nope.
• Does that mean you can slack off, hold a European work-life balance ideal, and treat work nonchalantly? Also nope.

Exceptional outcomes require exceptional inputs.

Think of your life in seasons

I’m a big advocate of thinking of your life in seasons.

I got this idea from my MMA training. Athletes commonly have training camps. These are 12-16 weeks of intense training before their main sporting event. Once the event is done, they have a “de-load week.”

What is done on a micro level (months) in sport can be applied to life on a macro level (years).

Which season of your life are you in?

Depending on the season of your life, you must decide to give up dumb shit and just focus on the few things that matter.

This does not mean you work at a job for 70 hours a week. Those work hours are reserved for founders or early builders of companies with an uncapped upside on success.

But you must be intentional about the life you want to build, work hard at your company, and then work hard on yourself. In your off-hours, make yourself someone your company can’t afford to lose. Improve your craft. Work towards a better career. Work on becoming a better human being for your parents, spouse, or kids.

Imbalance is necessary, depending on the season you’re in.

I used to work 70-80 hour weeks even when I had a job:

Performance, especially early in your career, comes from putting in the hours.

I still use the learnings from those days. If I hadn’t worked hard when I was 18-19-20 years old, I wouldn’t be a millionaire at 25 🤷‍♂️

I believe your 20s and 30s are foundational. You ought to be imbalanced to ensure your 40s and 50s are more manageable (and you have more time with family, a.k.a. a balanced life).

Ironically, you must embrace imbalance now if you want balance when it matters most.

If you’re trying to “balance” your work in your 20s with meaningless vacations to touristy places, binging Netflix, and going to concerts with your friends — you’re setting yourself up for a life of mediocrity.

Have seasons of intensity, and don’t forget to balance it with the right things.

How I run my company

This leads me to share how I think about setting the work culture at SARAL.

I’m not one of those businessmen who expects my team to work 70 hours a week without added compensation and upside.

We don’t hire folks interested in a typical 9-to-5, either.

Startups are unique. They need immense kinetic energy in the first 3-5 years to get off the ground.

A rocket burns the most fuel (per unit distance) during takeoff. Startups are similar, except the takeoff lasts five years, not five minutes.

You are expected to work hard if you work at SARAL (or any startup). At least 50-55 hours a week. That’s 2-3 hours more daily compared to a typical corporate job.

If that’s not for you, don’t work at a startup.

As a benefit of this, you get to partake in the upside at a startup.

My team gets stock options in the company after one year at SARAL. This way, they have the potential for an outsized return for all their hard work. All our highest performers get paid above market after they prove themselves.

SARAL has a performance-first culture.

I’ve never asked my team how long they work. As long as the KPIs are being hit, the outcomes are delivered, and the business is moving forward at the rate a startup should, there are no restrictions or rules.

We have a fully flexible schedule. People take breaks mid-day to pursue their hobbies or take a long lunch with friends. Some start work early, while some start late and work until 2 a.m.

We don’t enforce when people work or how long they work, as long they deliver.

I believe this is how every startup should operate — like a sports team. Put performance first and everything else second.

Our hypocrisy about balance

If you’ve read or known me for a while, you know I draw much inspiration from sports and war.

As a culture, we celebrate athletes who train intensely.

We shower praise when Sachin Tendulkar shares stories of playing cricket from 6 am to 10 pm. We applaud Michael Phelps when he says he never skipped a single day of swimming, even on Christmas! We love watching documentaries about how Kobe Bryant practiced basketball on the court when the rest of his team was partying.

In India specifically, we encourage teenagers to study 12 hours a day for competitive exams. Doctors work 10-12 hours daily, even on weekends!

All this is fine and appreciated.

However, we are hypocritical and criticize founders or professionals who work equally hard at their craft.

Building a business or becoming a better designer, marketer, or engineer doesn’t get the same appreciation. Suddenly, work-life balance becomes essential.

I think a lot of this is due to a crab-bucket mentality. It's mediocre people wanting others to have the same habits as them.

We need to change that as a culture.

Some people are just wired differently. They want to be world-class at what they do. Let them.

This reminds me of a comment one of my mentors said to me:

“You know how I know you will win, Yash? Because you can’t switch off. You’re always on. It’s hard to beat that.”

So, if you’re one of the crazy ones reading this — don’t let the world shame you into being balanced when you don’t want to. If you have a goal worth pursuing, throw yourself fully at it.

Their balance is your opportunity.

Conclusion

I want to reiterate that balance is a very personal conversation. It depends on the season you’re in and what you want out of life.

I hope this blog has given you enough ammo to think about it for yourself. Some questions to ask yourself:

• What is the type of life I want to live in 5 years?
• Will what I do every week lead to that? Be honest.
• Which season of life am I in?
• What must I sacrifice to capitalize on this season as much as possible?
• Am I getting better at my craft every week?

If your answers to these are congruent and you’re happy with yourself, continue on the path you are on. It doesn’t matter how many hours you work.

But often, you will find that much of what you want is not congruent with your choices, in which case, set up a system of change.

Don’t make critical decisions based on what the zeitgeist says about balance. Be intentional. Design your ideal life.