The other morning I was talking with a co-worker and somehow we stumbled upon the topic of work-life balance. A good balance is actually part of our company philosophy. I've never really been very good at this as an adult, including when I was in college. The scale is pretty perpetually tipped towards the work side. I consider myself to be a hard-working person. I am dedicated. I take a lot of pride in doing a good job. I think I can thank my dad for this.
One thing my co-worker and I discussed was having children, and how this affected the the work-life balance. I often think that I'd have a much better balance if I had children. There would be something more occupying my time and mind than what was going on at work. With or without children though, I think everyone should work to have a good balance. It makes for much happier, more well-rounded people. Yes, I am a Libra.
I think I need to plan more "after work activities" to fill my time. I have my scheduled work time (often running longer than scheduled) and then there is the rest. Which for the most part just gets randomly filled with random things without much planning. It's not thought through ahead of time based on what's important to me. Rather, it gets filled with what's convenient.
So tell me, what is your work-life balance like? What do you do to try to keep it as balanced as possible?
Hello Erin - I'm thirty-something too and have struggled with the same issues in the past. I was so determined to find a solution that I ended up putting up a web site focused around finding balance.
About having children to have balance. Kids are great on so many levels but while they may draw your attention/focus away from work, they can be the most demanding full-time, on-call 24/7 "job" you'll ever have.
Truly work on filling your non-work time with things you enjoy doing. Have those fun things become a routine AND a priority in your life.
There is SO much more to life than a J-O-B.
I, too, take pride in doing good work - but, that said, I definitely put work after family and myself on the balance sheet. It is more important to me that I get to do things I enjoy than I spend extra hours at work. When I have kids, they'll come first, but they'll be tied with myself and my marriage. I think the best thing one can do for kids is show them how to live a fulfilling life and, if possible, model a great marriage or relationship for them.
When I leave work, I leave it. I don't like to talk about it and I'm notorious for never asking my friends how their jobs are going (or even what they do half the time!). To me, it's one of the less interesting questions one can ask unless someone has a job where they travel the Amazon or Congo or something. :)
When I leave work, I like to leave it too......but there is this crackberry on my hip, and a boss who works all the time, and a business environment that opeartes in a 24/7 environment....
Makes me wonder if I'm in the right spot
Before I discovered blogging and a renewed interest in writing, I was chained to my work. My own fault. I always brought it home with me and stressed about every little thing. I still excel at my job, I just don't consider it an extension of myself anymore. Now, if I could get my husband to take up blogging. He's still married to his work.
Being a Libra myself, I am all about the balance. It took some real work but I am *so* glad that I struck a healthy balance in my life. You need it in so many ways! Balance between work & home, staying home & having plans, time alone & time spent socially, quiet & fun. I cannot believe how striking the perfect balance has made me feel like such a different person, more relaxed & at peace.
Hi Erin -- we completely understand the frustration with achieving "work/life balance". Sometimes we wonder if it's truly possibe to reach a perfect or fair balance given that we all spend anywhere from 12-16 hours of our day getting ready for work, commuting to work, working at work, commuting home from work, and then trying to relax from work!
But you certainly hit the nail on the head that it's best to plan ahead -- that includes making your "fun dates" with your kids, scratching out that grocery list BEFORE you hit the store, making (and keeping!) dates with your spouse or significant other, try doing the laundry a little bit each day (so you're not spending an entire Sunday catching up), and on and on ...
And if all else fails, then you can always rely on your Personal Assistant or Concierge ... leave your to-do list with us! :-)