Work-life balance? An autoethnographic exploration of everyday home-work dynamics

Based on data generated in autoethnographic conversations between the three authors, in this article we critique the prevailing metaphor of work/life balance. We offer instead a conceptualisation of the relationship between work and non-work aspects of life which is more dynamic, less reductionist and in which emotions, as well as issues of autonomy, control and identity are integral features. These conversations elucidate home and work realms not as reified entities, but rather as elastic constructions reinforced and also at times changed and re-drawn in the course of our interaction.