Blend Your Worlds: Focus on Work-Life Integration

This article is sponsored by Steelcase Store, a proud supporter of OfficeArrow and provider of advanced performance work furniture for home and business.

When I was a kid, I refused to let the different types of food on my plate touch each other. No peas in my mashed potatoes!

For a while, as an adult, I actually tried to do the same thing, creating a proverbial "divided plate" to separate the various components of my world. No work at home! No home at work! But, you know what? That's just not realistic. Sadly, they don't make those cute plastic plates for life...

You Can Run, but You Can't Hide

In today's world, the lines between work and life have blurred for two obvious reasons:

• Technology. With Smartphones, email and Instant Messenger, we're always reachable. Private networks, remote computer access and collaboration tools mean we're never more than a mouse-click away from our offices.
• Expanded Hours. Research shows that the average American work week is 54 hours. In an average week, only 14 percent of us work 40 hours or less.

I'm not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing; it's just the pace of the world in which we live. But it does mean we have to change the way we think about the separation between work and life. Instead of viewing them as opposing forces, we need to focus on work-life integration.

Creating the Integrated Lifestyle

We should start by asking ourselves: What kind of environment can we create at home and at work to maximize our productivity - and ultimately, our satisfaction - with both?

For one thing, we can stop thinking of "the office" as a boring, stiff, drab place where fluorescent lights flicker and the smell of burnt coffee fills the air. We spend far too much time at the office to be surrounded by such unpleasantness.

And let's start creating a home office that helps facilitate productivity, so that - when we have to bring work home - it's comfortable. Yes, office furniture can be both stylish and functional. You don't have to hide it away in a back room somewhere.

Here's the good news: Manufacturers are beginning to catch on. Steelcase, for example, has created the new brand Coalesse specifically to reflect this new "integrated" work-life reality.

"Coalesse is about a belief that the boundaries between work and life have blurred. With products that fit as naturally in to the office as the living room, Coalesse focuses on the increasingly growing similarities between work and life."

Office furniture - whether at home or at work - no longer has to be dominated with harsh lines and glaring surfaces. Instead, it can be full of chic, modern designs that reflect the way we really live.

Work is all around us. And so is life. Why not create an environment that respects both?

Are your worlds blending? If so, you need Steelcase's new Coalesse furniture brand to create your perfect space. Check out the special OfficeArrow page set up on the Steelcase Store where you'll find an exclusive discount just for you.

Steelcase has been providing easy access to advanced performance work furniture since 1912. For consumers and businesses who value design, comfort and convenience, the Steelcase Store has it all.