To many people, the holiday season is a time of pumpkin spice lattes, twinkle lights, and Mariah Carey. For others, its opening bells signify the annual descent into chaotic schedules, online shopping marathons, and a flood of "urgent" end-of-year emails that definitely could've waited. Most notably, the holidays can highlight and exaggerate any imbalances in our work-life balance.
What if you could flip a switch and forget about work the moment you logged off? No mental to-do lists chasing you through dinner, or waking up at 2 am, stressing about that unfinished project.
That’s the fantasy at the heart of Severance, the Apple TV show where employees undergo a medical procedure that splits their consciousness in two - one half that lives only at work (the “innie”) and another who enjoys life outside work (the "outie"). The outie never has to experience work again, while the innie is trapped in an endless loop of office life.
Many fans of the show have admitted they’d consider the "severance" procedure if it existed in real life. Why? Because for a lot of people, the boundary between work and home barely exists anymore. Work follows us everywhere - pinging notifications, unanswered messages, and endless mental checklists.
According to a 2023 Harvard Business Review Pulse Survey, 82% of respondents say workplace stress is a problem at their organization. Work-life balance has become a major priority for many workers, especially since the COVID pandemic made remote work and flexible work hours mainstream. Additionally, work-life balance was tied with job security as the highest-ranking factor among employees, according to a 2025 survey by international recruitment company Randstad.
Many employers have begun to recognize that work-life balance has become a top issue for workers, and it is showing up in job postings. In June 2024, nearly 80% of job postings offered "a little flexibility," which translates into adjustable start and end times to the workday, according to job platform Flexa.
To encourage work-life balance, companies are offering services beyond traditional employee assistance programs, such as tools and apps to reduce stress. There are also on-site facilities or reimbursement programs for wellness activities such as gym memberships and yoga.
The University Library also has resources to help you on your work-life balance journey. Our MindTools database is a great resource to not only help you build your professional skills, but also to shore up you personal ones. Check out some of its work-life balance resources (and its new platform!). Here are some offerings:
- Reducing and controlling stress is key to managing work-life balance. Check out this article, Work-Life Balance and Stress, which focuses on how to minimize your stress in the workplace.
- Think work-life balance is just a fad? Work-Life Balance Overview provides some winning arguments on why it’s important and how businesses and governments around the world are creating innovative policies to reach that balance.
- How we want to allocate our time and how we actually currently spend it can be misaligned. Use Life Priorities: A Time Management Exercise to examine your work-life balance and time management.
- Take a couple of minutes (literally!) to watch this video on work-life integration, one approach to balancing your personal and professional lives.
Unlike Severance, you don’t need to escape your job entirely but reclaim control over how it fits into your life. The University library offers a unique space where relaxation and productivity can coexist, supporting a healthier work-life balance. So grab a seasonal hot beverage and maybe one of those frosted cookies, and check out our e-books, educational videos, and How Do I guides, where you can learn something new to help you recharge and stay balanced in a busy world, no matter what the season.
Carla Smith is a reference librarian who has been with the University of Phoenix Library since 2004. She enjoys the diversity of the reference questions and helping students find the information they need to succeed in their courses.