Today we’re talking about choices.  Choice is great, except when we feel boxed into choosing between 2 things, and 2 things only. We can’t have both, and we can’t have a third option. That’s called a zero sum game.  There’s a winner and a loser.  Right now we’re inundated with “either/or” choices...you can either send your kids to school, or you can homeschool them. You can either open up the economy, or you can save lives.  The implicit assumption is that you either care about yourself or you care about other people, but you can’t care about both at the same time. Sounds pretty judgy, right? But is it a real choice. Is it a false dichotomy?  What if we took away the limitation that there are only two options? What if an alternative solution could exist? 

 

Today we examine the binary choice women face on work and family life (that has only gotten worse because of Covid-19):  You can either have a successful career, or you can be a good mom.  What is true about that question in your life?  Work and family are in competition with one another.  Some companies have actually told women they can no longer continue working from home unless they have made childcare arrangements.  What is fair to women to pit work and family against each other? Today we challenge this way of thinking in our lives.

 

What would our lives look like if work and family didn’t have to compete against one another? What if companies embraced women and offered more choices to continue a work from home arrangement (if that was working well) post Covid? What if companies partnered with women to determine what activities and responsibilities could be eliminated or curtailed, or turned into artificial intelligence so that women could simplify their work/life? What if companies subsidized childcare for women? 

 

This is a time of great discomfort because so much about the Covid world has challenged our way of thinking.  It is possible to walk away from the “either/or” mentality on work/life balance when you are willing to get uncomfortable and ask your support system for what you need. I share my own personal example of how I rejected an “either/or” mentality earlier this year.  What, if anything, about your work/life arrangement would need to change to serve you better? 

 

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