Creating Work and Lies Balanve

FINDING A BALANCE
Is Work Dominating Your Life?

Should you let it continue and miss out on a rewarding personal life? It’s time to allow yourself to do things that are most important to you.

Why is creating work and lies balanve so important? Let us see..
It is now 8 p.m. and you are still working on the project that was given to you by your superiors. You have been at the office since 8 a.m. and your dinner is sandwiches which you bought from the cafeteria. For the past few nights you left the office at 10 p.m. and continued your work at home. So, tonight you will most likely be doing the same. For you, this is the norm – working late, continuing to work at home and during the weekends, and eating quick (and often unhealthy) meals.

For many employees, especially in Asia, climbing the career ladder must involve working long hours. In other words, to be successful in your career, you must sacrifice personal time. The boundaries between work and home can now no longer be distinguished. There are also many other contributing factors such as:

• Competitive working environment - The chase for material wealth and the constant high expectations to climb the career ladder faster than our peers force us to place work as the single most important aspect in our adult lives.

• Current working conditions - With international businesses, employees are expected to be on call around the clock to provide troubleshooting support. Many are also given laptops, mobile phones and other communication devices to allow them to work from home.

• Global economy - The downward spiral of the global economy, the outsourcing trend, and the fear of being retrenched and replaced by younger graduates add to the burden of performing for the company to prove that you are indispensable.

• Longer hours - Many employees work overtime to earn more money. Sometimes, overtime is made compulsory. Often, employers expect their workers to put in more time at work. You may find yourself regularly working longer hours to achieve and exceed expectations.

Effects and consequences
As tempting as it may be to rack up the extra hours at work, your life outside of work is likely to suffer. Whatever the reasons for working longer hours are, when your work life and your personal life feel out of balance, many damaging effects will follow.

Work - When you are tired, you are more prone to making mistakes. This is because your ability to concentrate suffers, and your hand-eye coordination decreases. Mistakes can harm your career and reputation, and can also lead to injury.

Family and friends - When your family and friends begin to learn to make appointments with you weeks ahead, just to eat dinner with you, you know that you are beginning to lose touch with your loved ones. You may miss out on memorable events such as your father’s birthday, your friend’s wedding, your own anniversary, and your baby’s first steps. You slowly become a stranger to people who love you.

Self - As you spend more time at work, you will neglect your hobbies or activities that you have taken up. You may also give up on your personal dreams simply because you do not have the time to pursue them.

Juggling your career and personal life
Working and building a career is nevertheless still an important component in our lives. The key is to manage your time between work, family, friends, and yourself. Working long hours may be unavoidable at times, but that should not hinder you from achieving an effective balance between work and life.

The best balance is different for each of us because we all have different priorities and different lives. The balance will also vary over time, as important events such as starting a new career, getting married and having children, take place during your lifetime. It is unrewarding to schedule equal time for every aspect of your life. In fact, keeping to the schedule will be a stressful activity in itself. Life is fluid and creating a balance is a continuous process. The aim should be to make time for things that matter to you the most.

Looking back with no regrets
When you retire, let’s say at about 60 years old, would you feel that you have led a fulfilling life? It is a common misconception that once you retire, you can then fully enjoy the pleasures of life, without weighing the fact that old age is an obvious drawback.

Perhaps the best way to achieve the delicate balance between work and life is summed up by Louisa May Alcott, the author of the popular classic ‘Little Women’.

“Have regular hours for work and play; make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life will become a beautiful success.”

Let us start to create work and lies balanve together now.