Severance TV show or the extreme version of work-life balance

Have you ever watched Severance? Besides a remarkable soundtrack, this fascinating show takes the concept of work-life balance to a chilling extreme.

Short Trailer, No Spoiler

Imagine a workplace where your personal and professional lives are completely separated - literally. Employees undergo a procedure that divides their memories: when they're at work, they have no recollection of their personal lives, and when they're outside, they have no memory of their jobs.

The show follows one such employee as he begins to question the true nature of his workplace and the consequences of such a strict separation.

But while Severance presents a dystopian take on the idea, it raises a real question: where do we actually draw the line between work and life?

Work-Life Integration: When Passion Blurs the Lines

The reality is, for many of us, work-life balance doesn’t mean strict separation - it means integration. When you’re passionate about what you do, work doesn’t stay in the office. You bring home the highs, the lows, the interactions, the challenges. And as much as you might try to keep home at home, it inevitably follows you to work, shaping your mood, energy, and focus.

I know how the lines can blur. Throughout my career, my work inevitably became part of who I was - it even became a core part of my identity. And as much as I tried to keep my personal life separate from work, telling myself that if I became a parent, it shouldn’t make a difference to my employer, I eventually realised both worlds intertwined anyway - whether I wanted them to or not. But it’s not always for the worse. Becoming a mom made me a more efficient professional, a more empathetic leader.

Here’s the real challenge: when does work-life integration stop being a choice and start feeling like a burden? When does it shift from passion to pressure?

The Breaking Point: When Work-Life Integration Backfires

We’ve all heard managers say, “We’re not social workers.” They’re not wrong - leaders shouldn’t be expected to handle employees' personal problems. But work is still a deeply human experience, and pretending personal struggles don’t affect performance is just as unrealistic as trying to sever the two completely.

So where does it become too much? It turns into a problem when:

• Work-life balance becomes work-life bleed, with no clear separation.

• Passion turns into pressure - an unspoken expectation to always be available.

• Managers are expected to solve personal problems rather than support professionally.

• Companies demand full emotional investment but don’t offer real flexibility in return.

  
  

A Healthier Approach to Work-Life Integration

If strict separation isn’t realistic - as Severance highlights with its unsettling consequences - how do we ensure that integration remains healthy rather than overwhelming?

The show makes it clear that cutting work and personal life into two isolated existences comes at a cost. Employees (or their "work selves") become trapped in a cycle where they never leave the office, experiencing an endless loop of tasks without relief. Meanwhile, their outside selves -free from any work-related stress - lack purpose or connection to a huge part of their daily existence. This extreme split leads to emotional detachment, loss of autonomy, and a growing sense of something being fundamentally wrong.

While most workplaces don’t take it to this sci-fi extreme, Severance forces us to ask: what happens when we try too hard to separate work and life? When we pretend one has no influence on the other, do we actually create a healthier balance - or just a different kind of problem?

So instead of rigid division, how do we make work-life integration sustainable?

• Flexibility with accountability – Acknowledge personal needs, but maintain clear expectations to keep work on track.

• Boundaries, not barriers – Encourage open conversations about personal matters while respecting professional limits.

• Cultural honesty – If passion means work follows you home, it should be a personal choice, not an unspoken expectation.

  
  

Because in the end, work and life will always be connected. The real challenge isn’t separating them - it’s making sure they coexist in a way that doesn’t leave us drained.