People go to work everyday. 

People are working more hours.  

As we move from a country of manufacturing to knowledge work, the lines between ‘work’ and ‘life’ are progressively blurring.  

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People know all of the above - they experience it.  Dalton Conely, NYU’s acting Dean for Social Sciences, wrote about what it means.

In Elsewhere U.S.A.: How We Got from the Company Man, Family Dinners, and the Affluent Society to the Home Office, BlackBerry Moms, and Economic Anxiety he lays out what this transition’s meaning, failures, and methods for moving forward.

We’re asked to do more and we do more ‘off-hours’.  At the same time we’re increasing our scheduling demands for our lives - yoga, kids parties, other stuff you know well.  And that means that we’re never really all there.  Not just that we’re multitasking when we need to - but that as a country we’re actually losing the ability to focus and be present when we need to (get it - we’re always “Elsewhere, USA.”).  

And that’s not good for any one’s health, physical or emotional.  He even makes some initial forays into potential links between this collective social disembodiment and conditions like autism, albeit buried in the footnotes.

In fact, the author’s so busy he had to txt his amazon author’s notes - seriously, click here and scroll down to the picture of where he’s in mid-town Manhattan, hailing a cab txt-ing away.

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The concept has made a big splash with the book garnering big media spotlights from the New York Times, National Public Radio and Newsweek as well from new media like Salon, and hard-core, hyper-respected, cutting-edge social-media folks like Danah Boyd - the title of her Apophenia post says it all: “Elsewhere, U.S.A. by Dalton Conley = FABULOUS.”

The message resonates with folks: in a nutshell, the new world is mix between work and life and you’re never in the right place.

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Respectfully, there’s a different path.

Close your eyes.  Now imagine you really, really like your job.  In fact it’s not just a job, it’s part of who you are - it’s part of your identity - you ‘work’ because you find it fulfilling, it’s how you contribute to the world, and you enjoy it- just like you participate in your ‘life’ because you find it fulfilling, you contribute to the world and you enjoy it. 

Keep your eyes closed.  

Now let’s say in thinking about this, you start to question whether the hard line between ‘work’ and ‘life’ really even makes sense.  You’re not clocking into a job, counting the minutes, earning your paycheck to finance your life elsewhere.  You do both because that’s who you are - it’s what makes you tick.  

As you keep reflecting you begin to wonder where this idea of work-vs.-life dichotomy came from.  Has it always been this way?  Is it that way for other cultures and communities?  Doesn’t it seem like having both as an identity isn’t such a new thing - even vaguely familiar?  Didn’t we once even take our names from our work (do you know a “Miller” or a “Smith”?)?  And don’t we still give our names to our work (Joe’s Bakery, Fred’s Graphic Design, Wolfgang Puck’s, Hilton, etc.)?

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At Eliza we talk a lot about having soul - finding yours, personally, and as a company - and not just communicating it but acting on it as you build relationships with individuals.  

In this sort of approach, your ‘life’ and your ‘work’ aren’t two airtight compartments that cause conflict and poor well-being.  Rather, work and life are two windows into your soul - your unified identity - what you do, how you live. 

That’s not to say there won’t be specific conflicts and competing priorities.

But for me, an integrated approach is the the key to emotional and physical well-being.

Don’t go to work.  Go to life.  

Not “Elsewhere” - but “Wherever” you are.