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Hands up if you want more work-life balance?! ??‍♀️??‍♀️??‍♀️

But what the heck does that actually look like in reality? It's rarely taught to us how to actually achieve work-life balance and for many, the concept remains a mystery or even a unicorn. One thing I think we can all agree on, is that work-life balance is rooted in concepts like time management, happiness, and success. The truth is, I think we would all define work-life balance a little differently. Which is why I wanted to round up these Ted Talks to help you get closer to what YOUR definition of work-life balance is! Plus they have some practicals tools for you to start working towards it!

8 Ted Talks On Work-Life Balance:

Why You Should Define Your Fears Instead Of Your Goals

We all know stress is on the rise in America, can you feel it?!? Which is why I love this talk by Tim Ferriss (snag his books here)! He teaches us a “fear-setting” exercise to begin thriving in high-stress environments. Basically the exercise has us draw motivation by looking at the cost of inaction across all areas of one's life. What better way to finally begin taking control of your work-life balance and time than looking at what'll happen if you don't?!

The Happy Secret To Better Work

Shawn Achor, author of The Happiness Advantage, is totally engaging and really funny in his talk! He uses positive psychology to showcase how the brain processes the world. Which ultimately leads to him breaking down what he believes the secret to success in any area of one’s life. Essentially, by changing our internal world, we can impact how successful we are in our external reality. Plus this talk has plenty of actionable steps to retrain your brain and scan the world for the positive!

How To Make Work-Life Balance Work

Nigel Marsh uses a relatable, no nonsense approaching to teach you how to take work-life balance back into your own hands! After researching work-life balance for 7 years he knows his stuff! I think what I enjoyed most about this is the reality that employers (and others) can create policies for work-life balance, but at the end of the day it's our responsibility to actually create it in our lives! He has listeners look at what he considers to be the four main aspects of work-life balance (emotions, spirituality, intellectual, and physical well being) to create their own ideal schedule that tends to each of those areas!

Off-Balance On Purpose: The Future of Engagement and Work-Life Balance

Dan Thurmon kicks off his talk with a compelling visual example of how work-life balance is unrealistic. He argues a point I totally agree with: that people should let go of guilt derived from trying to achieve the unattainable, and instead live life “off-balance, on purpose.” Thurman points out that embracing more of ourselves and choosing to be “off-balance on purpose,” we have the opportunity to let go of guilt. Thereby giving us more time and energy to learn, grow, serve, and improve ourselves in a meaningful way.

How To Gain Control Of Your Free Time

Laura Vanderkam, a time management expert, studied how busy women spend their time. Through her studies, she realized time is highly elastic, and while we can't make more time, we can accommodate priorities in the time we have. She shares practical strategies to “build the lives we want in the time we've got.”

Can We All “Have It All”?

Anne-Marie Slaughter, public policy expert, explains why work culture, social mores, and public policy need to shift to create equality for everyone. “In the workplace, real equality means valuing family just as much as work, and understanding that the two reinforce each other,” says Slaughter.

Why Work Doesn’t Happen at Work

For the last 10 years, Jason Fried, co-founder of Basecamp, has asked people, “where do you go when you really need to get something done?” Can you guess what he found? HINT: it's not the office! That's right, most people reported being more productive somewhere outside of the office! Fried provides suggestions for employers to actually encourage work-life balance thereby finally allowing employees to stop taking work home all the dang time!

What Makes A Good Life? Lessons From The Longest Study On Happiness

Robert Waldinger, psychiatrist, and director of a 75-year-long study on adult development, concludes what truly makes satisfactory and happy lives! At the start of his talk, he references a study that found 80% of millennials major life goal is to be rich… but what his study actually found after studying people through all of adult development was quite different. Instead he found that happiness and satisfaction in life can all be traced back to the quality of relationships a person has. So invest in your relationships over long hours in the office folks!

There you have it! My tops picks for Ted Talks that'll get you thinking about WHAT work-life balance actually means to you and hopefully some ways to start creating it in your own life today!

8 Ted Talks On Work-Life Balance You Need To Watch