Work-Life balance....this was an unheard of concept to me as little as 3 years ago. Growing up, it was work hard, so later in life you can benefit from all you have saved. Your retirement will be great.
A wonderful fairytale like thought. In this fairytale though, does the heroes family understand why he misses Christmas, thanksgiving, birthdays, and every other family event?
Of course they do in some sense, I mean when they do see you, they get to be proud of your accomplishments, promotions, and the overall success that you have built around yourself.
I remember it vividly....I was in our office with my store manager at the time, let's call him Bob. Bob was convincing me how great one more promotion would be for my life, the money, a slightly better schedule, etc.
I asked Bob (already knowing the answer), what happens when I want to spend a week at Christmas time with my brother who lives 8 hours away? Can I take a few days of vacation before the holiday...and after?
You could see the reality slowly creeping over his face like a pillow absorbing sweat from a night of bad night terrors.
Well of course we have to work those days he said.
Exactly.....I paused to let it sink in...then followed, there is no amount of money this company could pay me to stop missing my family.....then I paused slightly...not for him you see, but for myself.
It took me saying it out loud, probably a little more bluntly than was needed, to realize that my priorities in life had shifted from money money money, to missing my family. Looking back it's so simply plain to me now it's stupid.
With this we ended our conversation and went about our day.
From that day forward my focus shifted from staying an extra 10 minutes or 3 hours to finish one more project to scheduling more time with the ones I love. The ones that have supported me my entire life. To this day I still fight and struggle to make it a priority to spend time with them.
I can say with truth now though, I feel like I am winning this fight.
Part of my choice of industry change involved choosing a career path that allowed me to be successful and maintain a work-life balance better than what I have now (and had at the time I chose to become a programmer).
The tech industry seems like an amazingly cushy job compared to what I have now. Hold the hate mail and let me explain! I am no where near saying that being a developer is an easy job. In some respects it's very similar to what I do now. It's very thankless at times, long hours, extra workload, etc.
However, getting an 8-5 m-f minus maybe on call rotations is leaps and bounds better than what I have now. My schedule never stays the same from week to week.
What do you do as a tech professional when you are sick? Call in? Make sure you don't get others in the office sick? These are reasonable best practices for any work place. You know what happens at my job? You get viewed as lazy for not coming in. You get a huge *sigh....* from your superior, as if you chose to get sick in the first place, they try to guilt trip your into coming in and suffering through your shift.
Still think your industry is worse specifically work-life balance than mine? It may be! I am realistic in mine is not the worst by far!
My decision to do better for myself is just that. I want to do better for myself. The only thing that was holding me back was lame excuses. That's why I decided to make a change out of my industry, and dive head first into another.
One book that got recommended to me, that has influenced and changed the perception and lives of tons of professionals in all levels of companies is
The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich. Although this is a real estate book, there are many rhythmical items that can ring out in your ears to apply to many different facets of ones life and work.
I'll leave you with a question to answer yourself, so it can be as honest as your willing to answer to yourself....
What are you doing to better your work-life balance? If the answer is anything, anything at all. Good for you, this is how we see progress.
If the answer is nothing...then why? What are you afraid of? What is so petrifying you won't even try? You don't have to quit your job and flip out on your boss to see progress.....to be successful...start small....you don't have to start large...but start something. Start today.
) sooner and re-read it in my moments of frustration when I would step away from these problems knowing full and well that they might just be something easy I am over-looking.
.