The future of work: How entrepreneurs are redefining work-life balance

Work-life balance (WLB) is a complex issue to discuss and even more so to research. Our perception of WLB varies from person to person in part because questions about what is work and what is life are philosophical and subjective.

One person may consider cooking, for example, an act of work, while another may deem it an act of leisure. We used to have a more rigid understanding of WLB: work was in the office, and life was everything outside. Although this definition was not always the most helpful, it did provide a straightforward position on the concept.

However, driven by new entrepreneurial ventures and technology, flexible and hybrid work models have disrupted the traditional on-site working arrangement for many sectors, allowing for practices such as remote working. In effect, the lines between work and life have been blurred, leading to a renewed interest in WLB.

So how did we get here? Since the advent of the internet in the early 1990s, which has allowed more work to be taken home, there has been a shift to more work completed outside of the office. However, some readers may recall innovations in the mid-2000s which accelerated this process; one such example is the development of the Blackberry smartphone, which was donned by middle managers and upwards and led to answering emails at the dinner table, a common occurrence.

We have also seen progressions in the portability of laptops, which have changed many coffee shops into ad-hoc offices. More recently, entrepreneurs are beginning to harness the capabilities of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) in scheduling and completing work. A raft of scheduling apps has hit the market with the promise of reorganising workdays to free up more time for the employee and, by extension, help provide more control over one’s time.

These advances have permitted some workers to experience much more freedom and control over their workdays. The ability to schedule work around life activities, such as family care, leisure events, and travel, has led to some employees reporting higher job satisfaction.

Meanwhile, productivity is increasing, with long travel journeys becoming opportunities to complete work and less rigid work hours. This allows for much more overlapping work time between international organisations, making it easier to find time for meetings between headquarters in the US and the UAE.

However, some perceive these innovations only as positive. The blurring of WLB has led some workers to ask the question, ‘When does my workday finish?’ The ability to work or be contacted at any time has led some to feel stressed and burnt out, working longer hours and feeling socially pressured to always be available.

Governments have recognised these concerns, and some have responded by introducing “right to disconnect” laws. Over 20 countries, including Australia, Canada, and France, have made it illegal to punish employees for not responding to communications outside of designated work hours. Still, such legislation may not always help everyone with social pressures to be available.

Entrepreneurs continue to impact our lives and, for better or for worse, have redefined the boundaries between work and life. How people feel about this will be dependent on the context of their workplace and their dispositions. A not-so-bold prediction for the future is that we will see rapid changes to how we manage the balance between our work and lives as entrepreneurs continue to innovate, particularly in finding more ways to harness the power of GenAI.

Read: Mapping the path from a classroom to a career

The author is the deputy head of Edinburgh Business School, Heriot-Watt University Dubai