Use the ‘4 Burners Theory’ for Better Work-Life Balance
You can have everything — just not all at once
“You can have anything, but not everything.” Chances are, you’ve had this realization. Perhaps once your life was 100% devoted to work, but then you had children, or you’d always spent your weekends hanging out with friends, but then started focusing on getting a company off the ground.
I prefer the saying: “You can have everything, just not all at once.” I recently learned of a framework that incorporates this idea into a really practical action plan. It’s called the four burners theory, and it can help you arrange your work and life in a way that aligns with your big-picture goals.
Imagine a gas stove with four burners. Each one represents a primary aspect of your life: work, family, friends, and health. According to the theory, which has unknown origins but was explained by David Sedaris in a 2009 New Yorker story, if you want to be successful in one area, you must turn off one burner. If you want to be world-class, you’ll have to turn off two.
It makes sense. Every successful person has had to make some sacrifices in their relationships or their health. For some people, it’s easy to turn off a burner. (Sedaris writes about his friend Pat, who has no bitterness about cutting off her parents…
