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  • Three Views of The Four Burners

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    bey lu
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    This document discusses three views of handling work-life balance as described by the Four Burners Theory. The first view is to outsource aspects of life, such as hiring employees to run a business or using daycare, so one can focus time on other areas. However, outsourcing may mean losing a sense of purpose. The second view is to choose which burner to prioritize and accept imbalance in other areas. The third view is to periodically shift focus between burners over time.

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    This document discusses three views of handling work-life balance as described by the Four Burners Theory. The first view is to outsource aspects of life, such as hiring employees to run a business or using daycare, so one can focus time on other areas. However, outsourcing may mean losing a sense of purpose. The second view is to choose which burner to prioritize and accept imbalance in other areas. The third view is to periodically shift focus between burners over time.

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    28 views3 pages

    Three Views of The Four Burners

    Uploaded by

    bey lu
    This document discusses three views of handling work-life balance as described by the Four Burners Theory. The first view is to outsource aspects of life, such as hiring employees to run a business or using daycare, so one can focus time on other areas. However, outsourcing may mean losing a sense of purpose. The second view is to choose which burner to prioritize and accept imbalance in other areas. The third view is to periodically shift focus between burners over time.

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    Three Views of the Four Burners

    My initial reaction to The Four Burners Theory was to search for a way to
    bypass it. “Can I succeed and keep all four burners running?” I wondered.

    Perhaps I could combine two burners. “What if I lumped family and friends
    into one category?”

    Maybe I could combine health and work. “I hear sitting all day is unhealthy.
    What if I got a standing desk?” Now, I know what you are thinking.
    Believing that you will be healthy because you bought a standing desk is like
    believing you are a rebel because you ignored the fasten seatbelt sign on an
    airplane, but whatever.

    Soon I realized I was inventing these workarounds because I didn't want to


    face the real issue: life is filled with tradeoffs. If you want to excel in your
    work and in your marriage, then your friends and your health may have to
    suffer. If you want to be healthy and succeed as a parent, then you might be
    forced to dial back your career ambitions. Of course, you are free to divide
    your time equally among all four burners, but you have to accept that you
    will never reach your full potential in any given area.

    Essentially, we are forced to choose. Would you rather live a life that is
    unbalanced, but high-performing in a certain area? Or would you rather live a
    life that is balanced, but never maximizes your potential in a given quadrant?

    What is the best way to handle these work-life balance problems? I don't
    claim to have it figured out, but here are three ways of thinking about The
    Four Burners Theory.
    Option 1: Outsource Burners

    We outsource small aspects of our lives all the time. We buy fast food so we
    don't have to cook. We go to the dry cleaners to save time on laundry. We
    visit the car repair shop so we don't have to fix our own automobile.

    Outsourcing small portions of your life allows you to save time and spend it
    elsewhere. Can you apply the same idea to one quadrant of your life and free
    up time to focus on the other three burners?

    Work is the best example. For many people, work is the hottest burner on the
    stove. It is where they spend the most time and it is the last burner to get
    turned off. In theory, entrepreneurs and business owners can outsource the
    work burner. They do it by hiring employees. 

    In my article on The 3 Stages of Failure, I covered Sam Carpenter’s story


    about building business systems that allowed him to work just 2 hours per
    week. He outsourced himself from the daily work of the business while still
    reaping the financial benefits.

    Parenting is another example. Working parents are often forced to


    “outsource” the family burner by dropping their children off at daycare or
    hiring a babysitter. Calling this outsourcing might seem unfair, but—like the
    work example above—parents are paying someone else to keep the burner
    running while they use their time elsewhere.

    The advantage of outsourcing is that you can keep the burner running without
    spending your time on it. Unfortunately, removing yourself from the equation
    is also a disadvantage. Most entrepreneurs, artists, and creators I know would
    feel bored and without a sense of purpose if they had nothing to work on each
    day. Every parent I know would rather spend time with their children than
    drop them off at daycare.

    Outsourcing keeps the burner running, but is it running in a meaningful way?

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