“The emancipation of the working class must be the work of the working class itself.” – Marx and Engels, Strategy and Tactics of the Class Struggle (1879)
Here me out.
The uproar around SKIMS Co-Founder Emma Grede’s comments regarding employees’ work-life balance responsibilities has brought on a lot of thoughts and feelings I want to discuss.
Last week, Grede stated in an interview with “Diary of a CEO” podcast host Steven Bartlett that a healthy work-life balance is a problem for employees “to figure out.”
Concerning employee attendance and micromanagement, Grede validated her statement by saying her company has changed with the times to accommodate personal life events. “You come in, you have set hours, but there’s flexibility within your working life. It’s not like ‘Oh my goodness, such and such is not at their desk.’” she said. “The way we run organizations now is that no one misses dentist appointments or a doctor’s appointment or a haircut or their kid’s parent-teacher conference.”
While Grede received a lot of pushback for her comments and lack of sensitivity as an employer, I have to agree with her… to a certain extent. The optimist in me wants to say it was giving unintentional Marxist queen.
It’s no shocker that Americans struggle with work-life balance. Our capitalist society literally thrives off of our clocked-on hours and has trained us to believe that we are important if we are good at our job, that we are valuable, even better than others, if we sacrifice ourselves to do more for our job. It’s one thing to be a small business owner living the dream of running a bookstore cafe. It’s another to be working for a company where you’re at the hands of a manager, who is at the hands of their manager, who is at the hands of their manager, and so on.
I don’t know why anyone would expect a large corporation or sector of the workforce to ever take into consideration their employees’ work-life balance. In a utopia, surely. But it doesn’t look like we’re headed towards Marx’s wet dream any time soon, no matter how much I, too, fantasize about it.
Like so many aspects of our lives, it is our responsibility to do what’s best for ourselves, especially when it’s hard. Classload too exhausting this spring semester? It’s up to you to change that for the fall. Feel like you’re spending too much time on social media? You should probably put a lock on the TikTok app. Worried about not exercising enough? I mean, honestly, who isn’t, but who is going to fix that besides you? Not your boss, that’s for sure. It’s HARD to set these kinds of boundaries, especially because it means working towards bettering ourselves for us (how selfish!), rather than bettering a company for profit.
It reminds me of a quote by John Green: “I took some pride in ‘not fulfilling my potential,’ in part because I was terrified that if I tried my hardest, the world would learn I didn’t actually have that much potential.” I’ve seen a lot of people fall into this rabbit hole at one point or another, myself included, because there is a comfort in settling. “I guess I could get used to just being a teacher,” I used to say to myself before I applied to grad school. And the truth is, I probably could’ve just slumped into that routine of having a steady pay and set schedule despite being irritable all the time. But I knew I was stunted as a person when I was teaching, following a path that would leave me feeling limited. That doesn’t mean, however, that there wasn’t still fear in stepping outside that box and pursuing myself first.
Because of this, I do agree with Grede that, when it comes to work, no one is going to look out for you except for you. And this sentiment goes against everything a generalized American workplace wants you to think. It’s hard to stand your ground and set boundaries with work because we’ve truly been programmed not to, and doing so is frowned upon by everyone who is too far in, especially those who profit the most from your labor. If more working people start to be more strict with their work-life balance, institutions will eventually be forced to reckon with a new norm. I firmly believe this is true, as even Grede alluded to such changes in her interview. “That’s just not how we work anymore,” she said regarding an outdated lack of flexibility in work hours.
This is one thing I love about Gen Z. If any generation has learned to stick it to the man in terms of work-life balance, it’s ours. For most of Gen Z, you literally could not pay us enough to go into work unless we really have to. I enjoy my new job right now, which is actually a rather huge thing for me to say, but at the end of the day, I will always prefer to not work. I know my value doesn’t come from a job. I know my happiness won’t increase if I overwork myself for the sake of an institution. I know any notion of “making the world a better place” can be done without a monetary profit involved. At the end of the day, I work to have money to pay for the things I need and hopefully a little extra. If I didn’t need to be an employee, I wouldn’t be! I would do pilates, volunteer, buy expensive coffee from a small business owner who runs a bookstore cafe, and run my own magazine, AKA become my own boss. I mean, that’s kind of the dream, isn’t it?
I often see people overextending themselves for jobs that don’t even align with their passions and/or come at the cost of their well-being. Even if you love your job, you shouldn’t be risking your physical or mental health, your relationships, or your interests for the sake of work. What is the benefit? So other work-obsessed people will identify you as “good at your job”? So you’ll be known around the office as “dedicated and dependable”? That’s just sad. If you have PTO time, please take it. If you have sick time, PLEASE take it, even if you just have a cold. And if you have neither of these things, but you feel burnt out and can spare a day of work without getting fired, just take a day off. “I won’t be able to make it in today. I apologize for the inconvenience.” End of discussion.
On the flip side, I know many people do not have a choice in terms of improving their work-life balance. They have to work a 40-hour work week to pay all their bills. Especially for those who live in a big city like Boston or New York, most of the time, they’re just working to pay rent and utilities. Add being a student on top of that, and it’s truly like someone materializing in front of you every two weeks with a vacuum, sucking up your entire check. If you can’t take the city out of the girl, you also definitely can’t take the girl out of the city. It’s something I’ve learned to accept. While there are ways to balance work and life, no one can say it isn’t difficult, and self-care during this time looks different for everyone. Take it easy, take a break whenever you can, and just remember, even if you are working long hours day after day, labor laws exist, and rest is eventually required!
I can’t believe I used to spend so much time complaining to friends and family about how burnt out I was as a teacher when I was actually the only person who had control over changing that part of my life. Once I did, I became so much happier. Not only that, but I opened up space in my life to actually lean into my passions, such as becoming an editor and writing these blog posts (with no worry or remorse, I might add).
Until the world is ready to stop dehumanizing working people for profit, you have to watch out for yourself. I can assure you, your job will always ask more of you, and it’s on you to learn how to say no. Sometimes, saying no comes with what may look like a consequence. You may have to set boundaries and say no. You may piss people off. You may even have to give up your job and search for something better. Others may not understand your decisions. But if you’re putting yourself first, you will almost always come out on top, and the right people will stand by you. Secure the bag, and then leave! What are you waiting around for?
“A schoolmaster is a productive labourer when, in addition to belabouring the heads of his scholars, he works like a horse to enrich the school proprietor. That the latter has laid out his capital in a teaching factory, instead of in a sausage factory, does not alter the relation.” – Marx, Capital, Volume I, Chapter 16 (1867)
Brenna Sheets is a graduate student in Emerson College’s Writing and Publishing M.A. program. Her hobbies include going on long walks, watching bad television, reading, and writing.
