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.
References
1Gen Z aren’t lazy. They just don’t want to ‘live to work’
2 X:Gen Z complains
 | 𝘔𝘢𝘤 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧-𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘫𝘢 & 𝘤𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘶𝘳 . 𝘈 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩𝘯𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘰𝘱𝘩𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨, 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘴, 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴, 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘤𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴. 𝘍𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘫𝘰𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯! 𝘋𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘱𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘈 𝘳𝘦-𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘰. |
There are absolutely a lot of challenges and differences that people encounter when they are in the different groups. I grew up a good amount of years before technology and the internet and remember it well when it did come. Having that period was important but these days it’s also important to have the tech and internet for what they do to help us.
Where I have the biggest issue is the people who aren’t going into the trades and farming type things - you can still do social media stuff but having it display your work is a good way to do both. We crucially need people who work these things instead of trying to waste their time and energy doing social media bullshit. If we can’t get people to do the work we will collapse for sure, and if we don’t we certainly outsource it to robots and companies that will use every opportunity to oppress us more than they do now.
Lol sorry didn’t mean to get dark on your post :D
hahaha no worries! I think balance is really all we need. But maybe in the future, we all be replaced by robots🤣who knows?
🤖🤖
I think Gen Z like us is not lazy. Like you said, they only prefer to make their life easier. I hope I also do have the same balance. Maybe I had it, but not the thing that I was supposed to think. Being inactive here is living proof that I don't have a study-life balance in my life. I blame my TikTok addiction, but I can't delete it since it is one of my sources of income.
I think if you make money from it, think of it like a business instead being a consumer which often, you could feel way too addicted to it. It's never easy when you juggle between multiple things, so don't be so hard on yourself. Do you sell anything on Tiktok or a content creator over there?
There is nothing like been able to decide what you want for yourself and at the time you want to. Working a 9 -5 for a company is more like enslavement because you are limited to what they want you to do with your life if you are not the boss. When one does a job or hand work it is better because you are able to earn as you go even if the start is not so encouraging, it will surely pay well in the nearest time
It seems like younger generation realized this a lot more and was willing to take more risks just so they don't do 9-5. But again, without a good grasp of time management and risk management, more often than not, it's going to get challenging navigating self-employment.
Yeah, you are very correct. And I really agree with you. The youths are now doing everything possible not to work for someone again because they end up not getting a better pay with is not okay. Everyone is working hard tirelessly.
Work-life-balance is very important to me, the other side of the coin is how much ownership I have in my work. In my experience, working as a creator/business owner has been way more satisfying than working in an office and just waiting for the weekend. The personal satisfaction has been wonderful, even if the financial return has not.
Another thing I really resonate is doing something on your days off, getting out and finding new places has been really great for us and has definitely helped my mental health in the long run.
Thanks for the read!
Hahaha that was/is the problem I have with my life. I do have satisfaction doing what I love but the financial return, as everything gets more expensive, hasn't been quite satisfactory. Still, I keep doing my best and just trying to upskill so I could do more.
Same here as well, I jog/run about 4-5 times/week before I go to sleep. It definitely clears my mind up and a huuggeee difference towards my day. Have a great week and thanks for checking out!
I don't know if it is because my experience has been so bad, because doctors' schedules are from 24 to 72 hours of continuous work, that I still think that this 9-5 schedule should not exist.
I don't know, in my ideal world I would work whenever I wanted, even if it was a Saturday in the early morning (like a vampire person) in fact, I am very productive in the early morning, that's why those conventional schedules never worked for me nor did I like them, besides getting up early like 7am is not for me.
That's why for a long time I had an emotional imbalance, I felt very tired all the time, of course my colleagues didn't all feel like me, maybe it's like you say, I simply didn't know how to manage my time, actually I don't want to have any inpositive schedule, in fact one of my main motivations when I decided to specialize was that, nor to do shifts from 24 to 72 hours, I felt I wouldn't have a stable life like that, however nowadays I find myself exhausted of everything 🫠, how difficult is to find balance! 🥹
Pd. I loved your new photo @macchiata, the girl looks beautiful like you, Let me get my next tablet and I can make you a personalized avatar. When I know how to draw at that level of course 🥲🥲
I noticed that too, they just are overwork and isn't a job that actually has good work-life-balance except maybe being a doctor is a side job🤣. But yeah, time management is a very important skill to have. It makes such a difference when you can do some tweaks with your time, hours and life. Again, I don't think there's ever a 100% perfect balance but constantly working towards it, counts 😁
Oh! I made them with canva before and changed it to something I made with Dall-E, they created awesome avatar and I would appreciate if you could draw something for me, I'd definitely use it as an avatar😊