Work that fits into life

How can we create a better balance between work and our private lives?

In a time when everything is happening faster and faster and slowing down is becoming harder and harder, we don’t just need time outs, “digital detoxes”, or “recovery weekends”. Above all, what we need is alternative work arrangements to fit our lives.
Jana, 28, and Anna, 30, are the founders and managing directors of “Tandemploy” – a job sharing platform. Describing the platform, Jana says, “People come to us to find a partner to share their job with and companies that are open to this job-sharing model.”
Jana and Anna know that there are any number of reasons that people want more time for themselves outside of work: time for continuing education or their own projects, time for their families, partial retirement and so on. And, like many of their generation, they are convinced that happiness and time are more important than status, power, or money. Job sharing is a model that accommodates this trend.
What other alternatives are available for establishing a better balance between work and private life? Participants in the discussion on “Tandemploy” were almost exclusively people between 20 and 30 years old. It’s easy to surmise that entry-level employees just starting their careers are also thinking about how they want to be living in the future.
Sandra, 21, believes that balance can be struck “through regular working hours you can meet with a clear conscience.” And Stefanie, 27, says: “Regular working hours and no overtime. More vacation days for your private life. This helps to avoid burn-out.”
Keeping to set working hours, more vacation days and introducing a 20-hour week are all suggestions we see over and over again and, as mundane and simple as they may sound, they may be that first step towards a more self-determined life. Simon, 23, is of a similar mindset: “Sometimes just by switching to airplane mode and shaking the feeling that you’re missing something.”
Endrit, 21, posted a comment about work-life balance that summarised what Generation25 is actually looking for: “A job that allows us to grow will automatically become part of our personal lives. Turn away from monetary incentives and towards passion.”
Equally modern thinking is espoused by Maria, 27, and Lukas, 35: “Promote more flexible work.” – “Thanks to technology it’s now possible to work from anywhere and to make your own schedule.”
In 2014, some 1.27 million people were self-employed in Germany. A growing trend. Independent and passionate work reflects the current zeitgeist. Many young professionals and members of Generation25 are going their own way, establishing new professional fields with the courage to pursue careers outside of the traditional system of employees and employers. Only a few participants in the discussion knew how to succeed in having a life outside of work.
For now, we have projects like Jana and Anna’s. Individual projects that do pioneering work and demonstrate that there can be alternatives. After all, “work-life balance” is something that affects all of us, no matter what job we have. That’s why change will require more progressive role models with the courage to break with tradition and try something new. Employers willing to think differently and employees who openly speak out about this issue. That is how, together, we will determine what the working world of tomorrow will look like.

#DEUTSCHLAND25