It used to be that office = work and everywhere else = life. I listened to lots of small business owners talk about work/life balance in a focus group recently. A theme that I heard repeatedly was that there's no line between work and life now.  Workshifters have anytime access to work and the people they work with. I couldn't help but ask myself, are we losing the "life" in work/life balance? Here are two different perspectives I heard from the small biz owners group:

Work and life should be more intertwined. The most passionate business owners are those that have made work an extension of their lives. I heard from architects to book store owners about the fact that their work isn't really "work." For these people work and life happen simultaneously where one minute you're drawing blueprints for a house and the next minute you're drawing artwork for your spouse (that wasn't intended to rhyme). You really have to love what you do for this philosophy or you will burn out quickly. But for those who have this nailed down, good for you.

Set expectations and turn off. The other school of thought is that we need to keep work and life separate thus developing a balance. I fall into this group more than the other. I heard from one woman who tells her clients that she's not available on Monday or Tuesday after noon and Sunday altogether. If the client needs something they'll just have to wait. If this is your philosophy then you need to be able to turn off and hold strong. Your customers build expectations based on what you do, not what you say. If you say you don't work on Sundays then you better not answer work email on Sunday.

What do you think? What is work/life balance to you? Do you fit into either of these groups or do you have a different perspective?

Photo by: Kaitlin Shiner