How to Create Work-Life Harmony

Shaun Hall and Kolby Kallweit have a message for you: stop trying to achieve work-life balance. This doesn’t mean these two 417-landers, who both work in the energy sector, are mindless workaholics. Rather they bring their hard work ethic to all areas of their lives—and they want everyone else to join them. That’s the premise of their podcast, Hustle and Harmony, which started in December.

They way they see it, the traditional notion of work-life balance arbitrarily separates the professional world from the personal. It also supports the idea that the work week should capped at 40 hours. As two highly motivated people, Hall and Kallweit know that achieving your professional goals sometimes means working more than the norm. So, they propose an alternative: build harmony within your life, including your career, relationships, hobbies and health (what they call buckets). Sometimes maintaining that harmony means stealing time from one of your buckets, but they caution against depleting or altogether ignoring buckets.

They define hustle as the pace at which you build your harmony, and they direct their listeners to be intentional with their time. Of course, that’s easier said than done in an era of smart devices, but Hall and Kallweit share concrete tips so listeners can be as productive as possible and reach their goals faster.

The episodes, typically released each week and lasting about 30 minutes, stick to a consistent format: an introduction; discussion; the Kallweit Call to Action, during which listeners are directed to complete a task; and a summary about the episode’s big takeaways from Hall. The hosts discuss a variety of topics including time management, email, health and wellness, remote work, the importance of self-awareness and more. Hall says there have been more than 1,000 episode downloads on iTunes.

It’s refreshing to listen to two men grapple with work-life balance, a topic so often directed toward and dominated by women. Like any talk show, the discussion can sometimes feel repetitive, but that’s likely because the hosts are passionate about their message. The actionable steps, during the Kallweit Call to Action, are where the podcast truly shines. Best of all, the show offers listeners the chance to gain clarity on and create plans to achieve their goals, a practice often sacrificed by all the things constantly vying for our time.