When I run my 10 week Mindset & Clarity workshops, I usually hold a session on work/life balance.

Whenever I do, there’s always some chat about how the phrase “work/life balance” isn’t all that useful.

I wholeheartedly agree with this.

It’s probably why “work/life balance” has undergone more rebrands than Snoop Dogg.

Terms like "life/work balance", “work/life blend”, “work/life integration” and “work/life harmony” seem to be bandied about like confetti nowadays.

I guess each has its selling point.

But recently I came across another rebrand which I actually quite like.

That rebrand?

“Work/life sway”

In my oh so biased opinion, “sway” captures something that “balance” completely misses.

Perhaps you've noticed this too.

When have you ever had a perfectly balanced day? One where work took exactly 8 hours, the kids got their fair share, you hit the gym, cooked a curry, read a book, watched Love Island and still had time for a decent night's sleep?

If you're anything like me, this mythical, perfect balance never happens.

But swaying is what we do every single day without even thinking about it.

You sway when you work late on Tuesday because your intern accidentally deleted the shared drive and you sway again when you leave early on Friday for a pal’s birthday. You sway when you miss your evening run to fix the wifi at home, then you sway some more with a cheeky walk the next morning.

The magic of "sway" is that it takes the pressure off. 

There's no perfect state to achieve, no ideal ratio to hit, no gold star waiting for you when you finally "crack" work/life balance.

Instead, there's just this gentle back-and-forth dance where you respond to what life throws at you while swaying away and back to your centre.

So it's less about getting everything right and more about getting comfortable with the movement.

Incidentally, I came across the term “work/life sway” in Rashi Kakkar’s newsletter Decks and Diapers.

Rashi was interviewing founder, author and mum of three Jossy Lee about motherhood, her writing and how Jossy has combined the two in her book “Mommy Goes to Work”.

A very interesting read it was too.

It’s not the only interview in Decks and Diapers I’ve enjoyed over the last few weeks.

In fact, for the last couple of years, Rashi’s served up 89 interviews with professionals, founders, CEOs, start-up execs, authors and podcasters to dive into how these folk balance their work with being a parent.

As it happens, Rashi is publishing interview #90 with Yours Truly in her newsletter tomorrow. 

In the interview, we covered topics like stress at work, my writing process, the "someday" fallacy, my take on success, how I turn the dial down on overwhelm and what it's like to be a new dad.

I had blast chatting with Rashi and no doubt the interview will be a small treat for the die-hard fans who miss my daily blather when I put my feet up on Saturdays and Sundays.

If you’d like to find out how ambitious parents are swaying their way through life, here’s the sign up link for Rashi’s newsletter:

https://decksanddiapers.substack.com