There is only 22% of Gen Z that doesn’t want to switch their job for a better work-life balance^[1]. The rest of them, chooses and prioritize work-life-balance. That survey was conducted at global scale but that wasn’t far from the truth in Indonesia. At least, from the corporate scene, my colleagues told me that it takes an extra effort and trade off dealing with the Gen Z. The issue with Gen Z is quite multifaceted and intricate as well. There’s so much to talk about and it is important to note that my comments here represent only a small fraction of this topic and many of them are drawn from my personal anecdotes.

There is a notion that Gen Zs are often considered lazy than its predecessor generations.

I have to object that notion as I think, taking more laid back approach to life isn’t necessarily equate to laziness. Gen Z has grown up in a world heavily influenced by technology and various streams of online income opportunities. This is why, even during my community service work in rural areas, I observed that even young children often aspire to become YouTubers and content creators more than pursuing traditional careers like becoming a doctor or entering a specific trade. While this trend is something I want to highlight on, I will also delve into how I have came to appreciate work-life-balance in recent years and my newer approach to it.

First, how lucrative is it to become an influencer and content creator in the country? It is pretty lucrative. With the salary that sky is the limit, it was a better trade off than working to someone making the minimum wage. There is of course the catch, that it is not as stable as working for the government. Still, because content creator lifestyle and living are heavily accessible everywhere, it creates an illusion that it is even more lucrative than regular job. Many of these influencers showcases best version of their life and live as if there was no tomorrow. While I think that it’s up to them, it is an intriguing phenomenon that Gen Z would rather have a lot of more time doing something they care about than working to make someone else rich.

From my perspective, it appears that compared to the previous generation, somehow Gen Z are aware and willing to take the risks just so they don't work for someone else. From what I have been seeing as well, Gen Z, they somehow didn’t mind living with their parents, making less money as long as they could work on something they believed in and pursue the ultimate work-life-balance. This is why, being influencer is the gateway to achieve that as opposed to 9-5 system.

But what really is a work-life-balance? Have we not had that? Is the work system really is opposed to work-life-balance?

Recently, an X account went viral for complaining that this person didn’t have enough time to do hobbies, live her life and such^[2]. While it is American centric, apparently those type of voices can be heard quietly in parts of the world as well. Does work life balance exist in many parts of the world? For all I know, yes. Somehow, the system of 2 days off was made to exist but the implementation varies.

For example, in this country, average workers and students, they get weekend (Sat-Sun) off. They were given 48 hours to do everything they want for their life that is outside their main job. Some people use it well, some doesn’t. The system ensures that everyone gets rest, but have we really get the rest and reset we needed?

It appears that social media made 9-5 as an impossible job to have work-life-balance. Or perhaps I was simply surrounded by outliers who still have their work-life-balance despite working 9-5. But even for me, looking back, as a student, now I realized that I too had my study-life-balance. The only problem was, I wasn’t utilizing it well, just as when I entered my adulthood and my approach to work. I didn't have the quality of rest and reset that I should be doing. It is ironic that I used to oppose 9-5 but found that their scheduling system made a lot more sense. As again, after so many experiments, I ended up learning that having schedule worked for me. I enjoy being productive 5 days a week and 2 days rest with the ability to sleep in, read book, catch up with friends, and talk to them for hours.

The Way I See Work-Life-Balance

To me these days being productive only meant that I use the time wisely doing things I love. For example, during the weekend these days I would try my best to avoid tech and screen. That is because I found out that during the weekday, I could be more productive and have some sort of reset mechanism when I avoid screen during the weekend especially on Saturday. It was helpful as I feel refreshed on Monday through Friday. The same goes with gaming. I would avoid gaming during the weekdays and wait until my screen reset over to do that. I also make sure that during Monday to Friday, I have been giving my all to things that makes me money but during the weekend until Sunday, I wouldn’t do anything that relating to money-making. It took a while for me to adjust to that because I used to think that the more I work, the more money I get, but that wasn't the case. It was the quality of work that would greatly impact what I would be making. There's a common saying, " don't chase money and let the money comes to you." Now, I just internalized that better than before.

In the past, I never really rest and it was pretty bad for my overall mental health and I wasn’t even productive during the weekday. I would still constantly work during the weekend which was quite ineffective as I felt like I had nothing to look forward to. Now, I learned better and I would prefer on delivering quality on the working days than having to do something half-hearted throughout the week.As result of those, I became a lot more tired and as I pushed through, eventually, I experienced burnout. Work-life-balance is definitely a lot more customized when you work on your own but I can see that some of my 9-5 friends can have their kind of work-life-balance as well. Those I know, on the weekend, they were able to spend time with friends, being outdoor and do things of their hobby while maintaining a good schedule during the week. Personally, these days on my weekend I work on decluttering, house chores as well as making sure that during the week days, I would have everything I need and doesn’t need to do a prep/cleaning work. On the weekend, I would also make schedule to visit a new spot in town as well as reading. Sometimes I get to hangout with my friend online or offline. These are the work-life-balance that I am currently striving for where I get to deliver a quality work, study better as well as still having time to talk to friends and do my hobbies.