What if our work selves were severed from our personal lives? What if, when you entered the doors of your work building, all thoughts of kids, spouses, and relatives disappeared, and instead were replaced with work thoughts? What if, at work, the only thing you thought about was work? For eight hours straight, only thoughts of work dominate—no calls from home, no thoughts of whether you left the flat iron plugged in or not, no thoughts of landlords, no thoughts of that side hustle, just work thoughts. Would this be a preferable option?
Dan Erickson’s TV series, Severance, is built on these questions. However, in this series, the workers willingly undergo a surgical procedure that separates their work selves (Innies) from their personal lives (Outies). Now, in the series, this seems to solve the problem of distractions since we learn that the main character, Mark Scout (played by Adam Scott), chooses the severance option because he wants to forget about his wife, who passed away. He does successfully forget about her, but only for the eight hours he is at work.
Before I go any further, let’s understand the word “severance.” Y’all might be thinking it’s that money paid by your employer when your job is coming to an end; it’s not. The severance we’re referring to is the act of ending a connection. Regarding how to balance work and life, severance means that while at work, all thoughts outside of work are severed, and while outside of work, all thoughts concerning work are severed.
This is not a review of the series ‘Severance’, but a commentary on how life would be if we were able to separate our work selves from our personal lives. The question is: does this severance benefit employers more than it does employees? I believe that it benefits both, in that employees will definitely get to detach from the hustle and bustle of life outside work and focus on what is paying the bills (or at least most of the bills). Employees will also be able to deliver at their full potential without any outside hindrances, giving their utmost attention to the work at hand. Meanwhile, employers get to achieve their stipulated goals quicker because of the multiplied output, and the quality of work will be assured due to the absence of distractions.
Ideally, work should be a maximum of eight hours a day to allow room for personal life, but the demands from clients, bosses, and even life do not permit this to be the case. You will find yourself working for more than 13 hours a day while still juggling other responsibilities outside of work. Attaining a work-life balance is close to a myth, especially when those above us do not respect the need for this balance.
A Forbes article on work-life balance by Maura Thomas points out that “instead of being a buzzword that is vague and open to interpretation, leaders need to provide for their team members a work-life balance that is relevant to the current business environment.” This means that the business environment is constantly changing; the demands today are never the same as next week. So, how one balances life and work keeps changing as well. However, two things remain constant: setting boundaries and enjoying your work. With these two, having a balance between both worlds will be much easier to attain.
Set Boundaries that Stick
I believe that ‘severance’ is the best way to set those boundaries and ultimately ensure that a work-life balance is achieved. As Maura says, don’t work too much; set those boundaries regarding work encroaching on your personal time. Team leads, avoid messaging your workers after office hours; this increases the pressure on them. Even if it is a two-day break from the office, the pressure to deliver still remains. Give them space to rejuvenate and unwind from their day-to-day work. For employees, however burdensome the workload is, there needs to be an intentional severance. Do not bring work home. Or, if you work from home, clearly allocate the days and hours that are for you and your family and those that are for work. Setting boundaries allows you and those around you not to overstep. This also applies to relatives or family; they should be made aware of the hours they can call so as not to disrupt your work self.
Finding Joy in Your Work
Enjoying your work is an important aspect of achieving that work-life balance. If you decide to ignore everything outside of work while at work, then at least you should enjoy your work. It becomes hard to ignore things outside of work when work is not enjoyable. For instance, if your personal life is in shambles, with so many demands and expectations from those around you, you might dive into work to distract yourself. Unfortunately for you, work just depresses you further; it might be the culture at your workplace, the fact that your creativity is suppressed, or even that your gender is a limitation to your progress. Nothing excites you, and you go about work because you have to, not because you want to.
When you enjoy the work you do, even if it gets demanding, you will not be weighed down as much as someone who hates their work. Enjoying your work also allows you to comfortably make time for a breather, and even when you go beyond the work hours, it isn’t as strenuous. Just remember not to overwork yourself.
Mental Health and Work
Ignoring one reality or setting that reality aside in order to seamlessly endure another does not mean that the ignored reality will cease to exist. Instead, it means that the ignored reality has just been put on hold until you are available for it. In Severance (the series), we see that even after Mark undergoes the procedure to separate his work and personal lives due to grief, it just means that he was granted 8 hours for five days a week to not think about his wife. He saw this as the most favourable option, and ideally, he wouldn’t thrive in any workspace with grief taking up a significant percentage of his mind.
Which brings us to the aspect of mental health. If the environment at home is toxic, it will most assuredly affect your output at work and vice versa. In such cases, it becomes extremely hard to ignore one reality and focus on another. Your delivery at work will be subpar, your communication will be negatively affected both at work and outside of work, and even your health will deteriorate due to the increased frustration and stress. Anything that negatively impacts your well-being is detrimental to your progress as a human; remember, you are human first, before being an employer or employee. So, prioritise your humanity over everything else.
With the concept of ‘severance,’ both realities (personal and work) are not allowed to coexist in order for work to be done. However, this is humanly impossible; for either reality to thrive, there needs to be coexistence. Accept the fact that you have an ailing parent at home, but do not let this take centre stage at work. Accept that you have a nagging boss who has dumped a week’s worth of work on you and needs it in two days, but do not let it take centre stage during game night with the crew.
Conclusively, achieving the balance between work and life requires effort, intention, and self-awareness. By setting clear boundaries and choosing to enjoy your work, you can create a symbiotic relationship between your professional and personal lives.
Composed by Precious Gift Aloyo
