英文原文
The Meaning of Work/Life Balance as We Live Longer...and How to Achieve It - ROAR forward
When we think about life and work, the “balance” may feel like a sliding scale as we age. Why does this happen and how can we maximize our happiness as it does? We asked Mark S. Lachs, MD, MPH, a physician, scientist and Co-Chief of the Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center to define work/life balance with the idea of finding the most meaning possible as we age.
What do you mean by work/life balance later in life? Well, it’s subjective. Balance does not mean a 50/50 split between work and leisure. Time is implicit in this conversation. I define balance this way: aligning the time you spend with how much you enjoy that activity. So, if you love your job—unlike most people—that percentage might be higher for work. If you hate your job and only want to work 10% of the time, you are buying time to spend with your family and hobbies. The allocation differs and changes based on life cycle, your spouse, or maybe you have grandchildren coming. But it’s synchronizing your aspirations with the actual time allocation. And it’s going to be different for each person.
What are the important elements to consider in a work/life balance, other than work and life? There’s pleasure, economics, security, socializing, and of course health. Also, caregiving responsibilities. The economics are important here as you can work less hard if you have money to sustain that. Your health is obviously a factor if you have a chronic illness that someday will limit you. That’s important in the calculus, not only in terms of what the balance is, but also what you will do. I had a patient with early Parkinson’s. He was a factory worker and transitioned to a position that required more brain work and less mobility. He also took time off to anticipate his future disability–the hiking trips were earlier and museum trips came later.
Calculating your leisure time involves other people, not for everybody, but for most. If you have a spouse with a chronic medical illness, that might affect your timing of slowing down a bit. Also consider the nature of the bucket list. Certain things on your list may require more agility and cognitive function than others. All of these factors have an influence.
Doesn’t work provide meaning that can enhance your life too? Work is important. It can give you identity. You go to a cocktail party and the first question is ‘What do you do?’ If you’re retired and you do nothing, you’re a loser. There’s also the legacy you create, what you want to leave behind. Legacy depends on the kind of work you are in. In my case, I’m very proud of the practice I’ve built and the research I’ve done, but you don’t have to be a Nobel laureate to have legacy and meaning in your work. If you have a job in an auto factory you could take pride in your craftsmanship. Look at the space program in the ‘70s–the people who worked as maintenance engineers on Saturn V take a lot of pride in that.
What other aspects of work are important as we age? Even if you’re not as productive at work as you once were, work is still an important place to feel needed. People want to feel needed, be a part of something. There are lunchtimes, birthday celebrations, happy hours, retreats, team-building exercises–really cool things that millennials have brought to the workplace. If you spend a third of your life at work, particularly in person, that’s where your social interactions are coming from. So, work provides community, and older workers can benefit from a lot of this.
Do both younger and older workers benefit from socializing at work? There’s really interesting literature on intergenerational socialization at work. There was a study conducted at BMW plants, where three teams competed to make cars–older workers, younger workers, and intergenerational teams. The older workers made great cars, meticulously crafted because of their experience, but they made fewer cars, maybe because of physical limitations and lack of speed. The younger group made tons of cars but there were quality errors, something wasn’t perfect, like the fender, the paint job. The most productive was the intergenerational group, the older workers were the brains, and the younger workers were the brawn. At work there’s an opportunity for older people to interact with younger people, and that doesn’t happen as much in the social world...particularly in America. But you get it in the workplace. As people age, we lose personal friends and loved ones, but we can maintain a social life in a work environment.
Why are intergenerational relationships so important? Intergenerational workplaces are an incredibly important concept because of the knowledge older people can impart to younger people. We want to pass our skills and knowledge on to younger people because it provides extraordinary meaning to both parties. And older people need to mentor younger workers, as mentorship is another way that work gives us meaning and combats loneliness.
In my own career, I view it as the most important thing I do. You want to create legacy– that could be giving a building to a college if you’re wealthy, but it can also take the form of bringing your knowledge to younger people who appreciate your stewardship. I’ve gotten so many life lessons from senior physicians, not just about medicine, but also the politics. It has also taught me about work/life balance.
What are the effects of loneliness and social isolation on our health and longevity? Social isolation can contribute to premature death, let’s start with that. We’ve known that since the ’70s. There’s a famous Alameda County Study by Harvard social epidemiologist Lisa Berkman PhD. It was the first study that showed bereavement conveyed a risk of death in the year following that death, independent of health issues. Since then, isolation and lack of emotional support have really proven to affect recovery from illness too. For example, after a heart attack people have differential recovery with emotional support. You can build support and improve your recovery, that’s not a drug, that’s you going out. Everyone has the college friend who organizes the alumni get-togethers, and I was always like, “Let them do that.” Now I say, “Thank God for those people.”
Loneliness is also associated with depression, and multiple studies show that depression can lead to nonadherence to medication regimens. If you’re lonely and sad and don’t take your meds, you don’t have to be a doctor to see how that’s going to end up. In England there is a Ministry of Loneliness, in addition to a Ministry of Housing and a Ministry of Education. That’s how important that is.
Why is loneliness so tied to our health? We desire connection, it’s so basic to human beings. We saw this during Covid-19–that’s why people started drinking, relapsing with opioid addiction, and getting divorced. Covid-19 was an amazing natural experiment. Kids were delayed because of school, not just educationally but in their socialization. Suicide rates among young people were higher than ever–yes social media is a factor, but also working virtually and not having the happy hours at work. It kind of makes the point: Aging really starts in utero, not at 65. These are trends over the course of a lifetime.
So back to balance, should we be thinking of pleasure first even if that pleasure comes from work? There are four quadrants of work and life: Things you like doing that the job requires–that’s the best quadrant, you want to maximize that. Things you hate that the job requires–you want to minimize that quadrant. The other two quadrants are not ideal. So, how do you find work that optimizes what you like and what they need? That could mean reorganizing your work. If you don’t like your boss, you can ask to be transferred.
How do we know what we truly enjoy and care about, at work and in the rest of life? If you know yourself, you can determine what gives you pleasure. We need to reflect on what really turns our gears and why. People don’t take inventory of that enough. It really has to do with mindfulness. I’m a big fan of mindfulness. Nothing happens without mindfulness. People don’t stop enough to reflect on what makes them tick. Being mindful and knowing yourself is a lot about self-care. People think about medicine and health care, but there’s more to it. The way the body, mind, and social world are connected is really quite remarkable. We instinctively thought so, but it’s turning out to be true as science is bearing that out.
Is there an ideal number of hobbies and pleasures to pursue? What I often tell people about the life side of the work /life balance is, “Not too many things.” There’s perfection in three. Most of my patients have three things they care about. Maybe it’s grandchildren, their charity, and travel. If the list is too long, it can create an ADD experience and become overwhelming. It’s like a diner menu; if there are 900 things on the menu, you can get decision paralysis.
中文翻译
随着我们寿命延长，工作与生活平衡的意义……以及如何实现它 - ROAR forward
当我们思考生活和工作时，“平衡”可能随着年龄增长而感觉像是一个滑动标尺。为什么会发生这种情况？我们如何在这个过程中最大化幸福感？我们采访了Mark S. Lachs博士，他是威尔康奈尔医学院和纽约长老会/威尔康奈尔医学中心老年医学与姑息医学科的联合主任，一位医生和科学家，请他定义工作与生活平衡，核心思想是在衰老过程中找到尽可能多的意义。
晚年工作与生活平衡是什么意思？嗯，这是主观的。平衡并不意味着工作和休闲各占50%。时间在这个对话中是隐含的。我这样定义平衡：将你花费的时间与你对该活动的享受程度对齐。所以，如果你热爱你的工作——不像大多数人——那么工作所占的百分比可能更高。如果你讨厌你的工作，只想花10%的时间工作，你就是在购买时间与家人和爱好相处。分配因生命周期、配偶或可能有孙辈到来而不同和变化。但这是将你的愿望与实际时间分配同步。这对每个人来说都会不同。
在工作与生活平衡中，除了工作和生活，还有哪些重要因素需要考虑？有快乐、经济、安全、社交，当然还有健康。此外，还有照顾责任。经济在这里很重要，因为如果你有足够的钱维持生活，你可以不那么努力工作。如果你的健康状况有慢性疾病，将来可能会限制你，这显然是一个因素。这在计算中很重要，不仅关乎平衡是什么，还关乎你将做什么。我有一个早期帕金森病的患者。他是一名工厂工人，转到了一个需要更多脑力工作和较少移动的职位。他还请假以预期未来的残疾——徒步旅行提前了，博物馆之旅推迟了。
计算你的休闲时间涉及其他人，不是对每个人，但对大多数人来说。如果你的配偶有慢性疾病，那可能会影响你放慢脚步的时间。还要考虑遗愿清单的性质。你清单上的某些事情可能比其他事情需要更多的敏捷性和认知功能。所有这些因素都有影响。
工作不也能提供意义，从而增强你的生活吗？工作很重要。它可以给你身份认同。你去参加鸡尾酒会，第一个问题是“你是做什么的？”如果你退休了，什么都不做，你就是个失败者。还有你创造的遗产，你想留下什么。遗产取决于你从事的工作类型。就我而言，我为自己建立的实践和所做的研究感到非常自豪，但你不必是诺贝尔奖得主才能在工作中拥有遗产和意义。如果你在汽车工厂工作，你可以为自己的工艺感到自豪。看看70年代的太空计划——那些在土星五号上担任维护工程师的人为此感到非常自豪。
随着年龄增长，工作的其他方面有哪些重要？即使你在工作中不像以前那样高效，工作仍然是感到被需要的重要场所。人们希望感到被需要，成为某事物的一部分。有午餐时间、生日庆祝、欢乐时光、静修、团队建设活动——千禧一代带到工作场所的一些很酷的事情。如果你一生中三分之一的时间在工作，尤其是面对面工作，那就是你社交互动的来源。所以，工作提供社区，年长员工可以从中受益良多。
年轻和年长员工都能从工作中的社交中受益吗？关于工作中的代际社交，有非常有趣的文献。在宝马工厂进行了一项研究，三个团队竞争制造汽车——年长员工、年轻员工和代际团队。年长员工制造了很棒的汽车，由于经验丰富而精心制作，但他们制造的汽车较少，可能是因为身体限制和缺乏速度。年轻组制造了大量汽车，但有质量错误，有些东西不完美，比如挡泥板、油漆工作。最有效率的是代际组，年长员工是大脑，年轻员工是体力。在工作中有机会让年长人与年轻人互动，这在社交世界中不那么常见……尤其是在美国。但你在工作场所可以得到。随着年龄增长，我们失去个人朋友和亲人，但我们可以在工作环境中维持社交生活。
为什么代际关系如此重要？代际工作场所是一个极其重要的概念，因为年长人可以传授知识给年轻人。我们希望将我们的技能和知识传递给年轻人，因为这为双方提供了非凡的意义。年长人需要指导年轻员工，因为指导是工作给予我们意义和对抗孤独的另一种方式。
在我自己的职业生涯中，我视此为最重要的事情。你想创造遗产——如果你富有，可以给大学捐一栋楼，但也可以以将你的知识带给欣赏你指导的年轻人的形式。我从资深医生那里学到了很多人生教训，不仅是关于医学，还有政治。这也教会了我关于工作与生活平衡。
孤独和社交孤立对我们的健康和寿命有什么影响？社交孤立可能导致过早死亡，让我们从这一点开始。我们从70年代就知道这一点。哈佛社会流行病学家Lisa Berkman博士进行了一项著名的阿拉米达县研究。这是第一项研究表明丧亲之痛在死亡后一年内带来死亡风险，独立于健康问题。自那时起，孤立和缺乏情感支持确实被证明也影响疾病康复。例如，心脏病发作后，人们在情感支持下的康复情况不同。你可以建立支持并改善康复，这不是药物，而是你走出去。每个人都有那个组织校友聚会的大学朋友，我以前总是说，“让他们去做吧。”现在我说，“感谢上帝有那些人。”
孤独也与抑郁相关，多项研究表明抑郁可能导致不遵守药物治疗方案。如果你孤独、悲伤且不吃药，你不必是医生也能看出结果会如何。在英国，除了住房部和教育部，还有一个孤独部。这说明了其重要性。
为什么孤独与我们的健康如此紧密相关？我们渴望联系，这对人类来说如此基本。我们在COVID-19期间看到了这一点——这就是为什么人们开始饮酒、阿片类药物成瘾复发和离婚。COVID-19是一个惊人的自然实验。孩子们因学校而延迟，不仅是教育上，还有社交上。年轻人的自杀率比以往任何时候都高——是的，社交媒体是一个因素，但还有虚拟工作和没有工作中的欢乐时光。这有点说明：衰老实际上始于子宫内，而不是65岁。这些是一生中的趋势。
那么回到平衡，我们是否应该首先考虑快乐，即使这种快乐来自工作？工作和生活有四个象限：你喜欢做且工作需要的——这是最好的象限，你想最大化它。你讨厌做且工作需要的——你想最小化那个象限。其他两个象限不理想。那么，你如何找到优化你喜欢和他们需要的工作？这可能意味着重组你的工作。如果你不喜欢你的老板，你可以要求调职。
我们如何知道我们真正享受和关心什么，在工作和生活的其他方面？如果你了解自己，你可以确定什么给你快乐。我们需要反思什么真正驱动我们以及为什么。人们不够经常盘点这些。这确实与正念有关。我是正念的忠实粉丝。没有正念，什么都不会发生。人们不够停下来反思什么让他们运转。保持正念和了解自己很大程度上是自我照顾。人们考虑医学和医疗保健，但还有更多。身体、心灵和社交世界的连接方式确实非常显著。我们本能地这么认为，但随着科学证实，这被证明是真实的。
追求爱好和快乐有理想的数量吗？关于工作与生活平衡的生活方面，我经常告诉人们，“不要太多事情。”三个是完美的。我的大多数患者有三件他们关心的事情。可能是孙辈、他们的慈善和旅行。如果清单太长，可能会造成注意力缺陷体验并变得不堪重负。就像餐厅菜单；如果菜单上有900样东西，你可能会决策瘫痪。
文章概要
本文探讨了在寿命延长的背景下，工作与生活平衡的意义及实现方法，特别聚焦于中年阶段。文章通过专家访谈，强调平衡是主观的，涉及时间分配与个人喜好的对齐，并考虑健康、经济、社交等多重因素。关键词“using mindfulness to enhance work-life balance in middle age”体现在专家对正念的推崇，认为正念有助于自我认知和快乐识别，从而优化平衡。文章还讨论了工作中的意义、代际关系的重要性，以及孤独对健康的负面影响，最终提出通过正念和自我反思来提升中年工作生活平衡。
高德明老师的评价
用12岁初中生可以听懂的语音来重复翻译的内容：这篇文章就像在说，当我们长大变老时，怎么安排工作和玩的时间才能更开心。它不是一半工作一半玩，而是做你喜欢的事情多花时间，不喜欢的事情少花时间。比如，如果你爱你的工作，可以多工作；如果不爱，就少工作，多陪家人。还要注意健康、钱和朋友。专家说，要用心感受什么让你快乐，这就像正念，能帮你找到平衡。工作中，年轻人和老年人可以互相帮助，老年人教知识，年轻人出力，这样大家都开心。孤独对身体不好，所以要多交朋友。总之，了解自己，用心生活，就能过得更好。
佛学的各个宗派视角评价，突出《显密圆通成佛心要集》的视角：从佛学视角看，本文强调的正念与自我认知，与大乘佛教的“观心”和“自觉”理念相契合。在显宗中，如禅宗注重“当下觉照”，与正念提升平衡异曲同工；净土宗强调“念佛安心”，可类比于通过专注活动找到意义。密宗如准提法，则通过咒语和观想整合身心，本文的正念实践可视为一种世俗化的准提法应用，帮助中年人在繁忙中保持内心平静。《显密圆通成佛心要集》倡导显密融合、圆通无碍，本文的工作生活平衡可理解为在世俗生活中修行，达到“世出世间不二”。准提法的优点在于简便易行、适应性强，本文的正念方法类似，能快速应用于日常，提升生活质量。从大乘视角，这种平衡修行体现了“菩萨行”，在利益自身的同时，通过代际传承和社会贡献，利他度人，契合“自利利他”的菩提心。
在修行实践上可以应用的和可以解决人们的十个问题：1. 时间管理困扰：通过正念分配时间，减少焦虑，提升效率。2. 工作压力大：应用准提法短咒静心，瞬间缓解压力。3. 人际关系疏离：借鉴代际互动，增强社交连接，对抗孤独。4. 自我价值感低：通过正念反思，发现内在意义，提升自信。5. 健康问题担忧：结合正念调节身心，促进康复和预防。6. 生活单调乏味：用正念探索爱好，丰富生活体验。7. 退休后失落感：以修行心态持续学习和服务，找到新目标。8. 家庭责任冲突：通过正念平衡照顾与自我，和谐相处。9. 经济压力焦虑：以修行智慧简化需求，减少物质执着。10. 未来迷茫不安：用佛学无常观接纳变化，活在当下，增强安全感。这些应用聚焦佛教显宗和大乘视角，突出准提法的简便性和实用性，帮助人们在中年阶段实现内外平衡。