In 2025, the lines between work and life are blurrier than ever. Corporate offices try to be more like homes, complete with lounges, snacks, and casual wear. Meanwhile, your home might look increasingly like an office these days, set with a desk and swivel chair.
Work to live, or live to work?
Some believe you’ll never work a day in your life if you’re passionate about your work. But if you love what you do, will you always be working? The new work-life balance is all about defining what works for you based on your own circumstances.
Work-life balance doesn’t have a static definition. The nature of work and its relationship to the rest of our lives is changing with the times. It used to be that when you clocked out of work for the day, you physically left the workplace and went home.
You worked to pay the bills and save for retirement. But people tend to expect more from their work lives these days: a sense of fulfillment and community and an alignment between your work and your personal values.
What constitutes work-life balance will also be affected by your personal circumstances. For example, parents with young kids at home will likely value health benefits and flexible schedules. Meanwhile, someone who’s just starting their career might value workplace culture—and the opportunity to network—more in their journey toward work-life balance.
Different cultures view work differently too. New Zealand ranks high across the globe when it comes to work-life balance. How do they do it? Plenty of paid time off, short commutes, low unemployment levels, and shorter (average) work weeks all play a role.
In Denmark, the city of Copenhagen also scores high for work-life balance. Their approach includes flexible working hours, generous paid parental leave, and a minimum of five weeks paid vacation per year.
Your road map to work-life balance
Registered psychologist Dr. Carla Fry says that people want to feel connected, useful, and joyful in both their home life and work life. As metrics of success have changed, so have people’s needs in the workplace.
“In the past, people derived self-esteem from not taking vacations, not taking sick days, and working 80 hours a week,” Fry explains.
But now, according to Fry, people want to feel good about the work they’re doing, while still having enough energy for the things outside of work that make them happy and healthy―things like spending time with friends and family, going to yoga or therapy, or just sitting for 10 minutes without anything on the go.
Though people of all ages are now more curious and interested in work-life balance, Fry says that for people under 30, work-life balance isn’t just nice to have—it’s imperative. In fact, whereas salary and benefits used to be major selling points, work-life balance has become a major factor in making big life decisions, including choosing a career.
By Marie White
