b'| CAREER GUIDEThe BalancingAct BetweenWork & LifeIts up to employers and employees to ensure that the lines between work and life are not blurredBy Joe DarrahT he definition of work-life balance is not the same for everyone. Numerous factors impact the number of realistically expected working hours in a given day or week, including age, profession, salary, and accountability to name a few. Management status will also certainly come into con-sideration and raise the general need to work more hours, but so will the level of enjoyment that one has in his or her jobfor instance when it comes to accepting overtime hours. Of course, financial needs will also contribute to the working of overtime, as will staff shortages and emergency-type situations that are incumbent among certain professionals. Healthcare providers in particular have the unique and complicated challenge of facing accountabil-ity not just to their employers, but to their patients. And thats even before factoring in the impact of technology. The general theory holds that technology makes our life easier. But it also makes it easier for us to work, and to do outside of our defined working space, whether that be from the comfort of our own home or while were on the road (traveling, perhaps, for a work assignment). Generally speaking, todays workers are more productive than theyve ever been, particularly because technology has exponentially increased the rate of production and speed at which business occurs (even when considering that miscommunication is more likely to happen from screen to screen than it is per-son to person). 1Technology has also been linked to such negative consequences as stress, lack ofsleep, anxiety, and/or depression. 1,2The more access that we have to technology, the more access we likely have to our working environmentwhich is where the line between work and life may begin to blur for todays ISTOCKwww.elitecme.com |2020| CAREER GUIDE 5'