"On their deathbed, no one ever said, 'I wish I had spent more time with my business.'." is a quote I find myself recounting (and hearing) a lot when trying to remind myself not to get too lost in work - and that doesn't always mean always being in the office ! The modern "always on" society means that we demand, and get, information 24/7 and find ourselves checking emails in the middle of the night, in the cab on the way home after a night out and more worrylingly according to a recent report 11% of those under 25 and 6% over 25 would check emails and social networks during sex !

The pushback against these sort of conversations tend to reach a peak when certain life events happen - probably why the book "Fat, Forty and fired" (about an ad exec who moved to Oz and lost his job and decided to take a year off rediscovering his life and family) was so popular with a whole group of friends - I think it has been passed on more than any other book I own.So when i saw that the writer of said book Nigel Marsh was talking on TED I was intrigued. The video is 10 minutes long and full of interesting and insightful observations including "all I learnt about work life balance is that it is quite easy to balance work and life when you don't have any work!" he does however offer

4 principles that he believes we should all follow which are not necessarily new but thought provoking. They include the need to take control over the type of life you lead and not let companies do it and to be careful with timeframe on which you judge the balance (but don't leave it too long). His assertion is that if we all do this we can change society and change the framing of how we judge success making it more about "a life well lived" than amassing yachts and houses.

If you have 10 minutes it is worth a look and a bit of introspection - my take on it was an extension of the "take control" principle and make sure that you enjoy what you do and it doesn't overtake you so remember that that status update can wait and the email can be actioned later - or in the words of Confucius "Find a job you love and you'll never work a day in your life"