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Integrating and Segmenting

I started at a new job within a start-up a few months ago. While still joined in the hip to the mother-ship we have a high degree of freedom to operate as we need to. It is in a sense a best of both worlds until it is not. Being part of a global company, we work with clients across time zones. It is always 9:00 am somewhere and someone always needs something from me yesterday. It is all but impossible to get out of the work cycle - the weekends are cut short by at least eight hours. My peers are  talented, driven and ambitious people. Working sixty hour weeks is the norm for this group. While there is no implied expectation in that regard, the force field is too strong for any one person to overcome. 

It is interesting to read this study about work-life balance that groups people into Segmentors and Integrators. The people who have lived this life a lot longer than me have coping mechanisms that I am still learning. It seems that being able to go effortlessly between integrating and segmenting based on what is going at work and in personal life is the key to success. There is a time to go to each extreme but on most days one must be able to achieve a fine balance - be able to shift and adapt by the day and by the hour. A couple of positives that have come of this for me are my determination to carve out time for me every day and be more attentive to my health and wellness than I have ever been.
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