Creating personal success takes hard work and it is not necessarily easy. Throw in career demands, children and other commitments, and life overall becomes a challenge. The cherry on top is prioritizing the most important relationship in the midst of all of this — your marriage!

That is where the term “work-life balance” would often be used, but there really is no such thing. Rather than seeking a work-life balance, we should really be seeking to achieve a “work-life harmony.”

For my husband and I, the foundation of our relationship was built on personal independence. We have always genuinely supported each other in our personal endeavors, but as our family and career demands grew, we had started slowly drifting apart. We were prioritizing all of our outside demands and realized that we weren’t making time for each other, so we had to make a change.

Here are just a few ways we changed things to help support each other’s goals and accomplishments.

Plan Together

Twice a year, we take time together to map out our individual and family goals, dreams, and aspirations. We spend an entire day talking about how we will help each other accomplish our personal goals and what things we want to accomplish together. It is amazing what we can create together. This allows us to stay motivated and creates excitement in our relationship.

Communicate Clearly

Expectations can get dicey when we do not have a plan for how we are going to work together through our daily lives. The dynamics between us and our daily responsibilities are interchangeable so either one of us could take the role of handyman or chef at any given time. In order to stay on track for the week we create meal plans and talk about any changes to our regular routine, so we know who is responsible for what. This allows us to make time for ourselves individually and meet all the other demands in our lives.

Understand and Accept Differences

We function quite differently in our lives from each other, which can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, our differences complement each other, allowing us to work in harmony. However, our differing personalities can clash resulting in conflict. Instead of trying to understand the “why” behind the behaviors we do not understand, we have learned to accept our differences with grace. This allows us to respect each other more.

Be Friends

We function quite differently in our lives from each other, which can be a double-edged sword. On one hand, our differences complement each other, allowing us to work in harmony. However, our differing personalities can clash resulting in conflict. Instead of trying to understand the “why” behind the behaviors we do not understand, we have learned to accept our differences with grace. This allows us to respect each other more.

Creating “work-life harmony” in your marriage is possible and does not have to be difficult. Investing just a little bit of time purposefully connecting with one another can work wonders and help you both feel accomplished, and still truly connected.

Chelsie Fall, SHRM-CP

Chelsie is driven to change the way we think about employees in the workplace. This requires a shift from traditional practices to create an innovative, people-centered, workplace culture. Her work is her passion but her “why” is her favorite people of all: her husband and children.