Think of work-life balance as an evolving cycle of awareness rather than a finish line: What most people get wrong about the idea of finding a healthy balance between work and just about everything else is thinking of it as a fixed goal, writes Bryan Lufkin for the BBC. Rather than slotting in fixed hours for work time and “me time,” finding real balance requires a degree of flexibility and awareness that will allow you to adjust priorities depending on the moment.

More about emotion than time management: In a survey of 80 London-based professionals conducted by researchers at ESSEC Business School in France and the University of Roehampton in the UK, respondents who reported the highest levels of satisfaction with their work-life balance, said it was less about resolving scheduling conflicts and efficiency hacks, and more about emotional responses and introspection. “What we call ‘work-life balance’ is actually just a proxy to having a sense of fulfilment and contentment,” says NYU clinical associate professor of management Anat Lechner. The survey came up with five key recommendations to achieve this.

A five step process to fulfillment: First, the framework suggests people question the assumption that work is the only path to fulfillment, and take some time to unpack why they may believe that. Next, people should take stock of their values and identify pressing frustrations in their lives. Feelings associated with these stressors should be taken into account before eventually reprioritizing what matters. Considering the tradeoff if they were to work fewer hours is the next step, followed by identifying what can actually be changed in their lives to accommodate new priorities. The final step involved implementing an action or decision to address concerns in some way.

All this to say: expect your employees to push for more flexible hours: All the soul-searching in the world can prove meaningless if a work environment fails to prioritize employees’ well-being. Incorporating flexible management schemes that take people’s uniquely individual situations into account is crucial to helping employees reach a place of personal satisfaction.