Work/Life Balance
Work/Life Balance.
I was better at this while John was alive. Largely because he worked nights, I worked days, so we didn't always have a lot of time together. So 530 - I was out the door, on my way to teach and got myself home to dinner in enough time to spend quality time with him and off he would go.
Even after he started working a normal day job, still with the night time gigs, I didn't alter my schedule.
Then, not long after he passed, the job changed. And all of sudden I was working some pretty crazy hours. There was more work than there was of me.
I was coming to the end of a rapidly fraying rope and getting no help. Not anytime soon.
Eventually - the cavalry came.
But the damage was done. I was now back in a routine I didn't belong in anymore. I had no problem pulling long hours and no one knew better than me, what I was really doing.
I was running away.
Burying myself with work Oops, did I say "Burying"? I meant busying. ( Hello? Freud? are you In? )
And I did it to myself. Oh yes, my employer benefited from this action and at one point, had a conversation with me, being a widow herself, and told me that it's not OK for me to keep the pace up the way that I had been, and she brought the cavalry.
So fast forward to the fall, five years later - I came to a different realization.
I needed to protect my personal time. And I need to do it in a way that doesn't rely on my employer to bring the cavalry.
The universe sometimes takes really aggressive actions to get our attention. Since I was complacent and HAPPY at that job, I had no desire to leave. Things were going well.
Until they weren't.
We lost a major contract and I found myself unemployed. Along with MANY others.
Now I work from home, and while I don't "make" my own hours, due to a difference in time zone and the flexibility of my entire team, I can be more flexible and kinder to myself.
For example, my inbox doesn't really start hopping til lunchtime. I use my mornings for light admin work and catching up on the routines for work that my customer time can get bogged down with.
It also enables me to throw laundry in, put up a stew for dinner and order my groceries online. That's just my lunch hour.
I will walk away, at least 2 days a week, at 5. I will take my Pilates class down the block. I may teach and / or have a rehearsal or meeting. Then I will return home, check to see if my inbox was off the charts and then start my bedtime routine.
Another bad habit I picked up in other jobs, I don't take vacation. I love that I am urged to take vacation here. I plan to take a few days soon - not all at once. But I do need to schedule some things. Better work / life balance.
I don't panic about leaving for a dr appt mid day. I don't become resentful if I have to stay an extra hour.
Do I have perfect Work/life balance? no. Am I working on it? Yes. Has it improved? Dramatically.
This new job is actually forcing me to have better work/life balance.
Here are the benefits: I have less stress. Because I CAN get it all done. My home environment is getting attended to more promptly and I am having some fun redecorating. I am finally donating some of John's clothes and I am re-envisioning my space. I hung my art.
Once again, the universe extends a hand.
Are you in work/life balance?
I was better at this while John was alive. Largely because he worked nights, I worked days, so we didn't always have a lot of time together. So 530 - I was out the door, on my way to teach and got myself home to dinner in enough time to spend quality time with him and off he would go.
Even after he started working a normal day job, still with the night time gigs, I didn't alter my schedule.
Then, not long after he passed, the job changed. And all of sudden I was working some pretty crazy hours. There was more work than there was of me.
I was coming to the end of a rapidly fraying rope and getting no help. Not anytime soon.
Eventually - the cavalry came.
But the damage was done. I was now back in a routine I didn't belong in anymore. I had no problem pulling long hours and no one knew better than me, what I was really doing.
I was running away.
Burying myself with work Oops, did I say "Burying"? I meant busying. ( Hello? Freud? are you In? )
And I did it to myself. Oh yes, my employer benefited from this action and at one point, had a conversation with me, being a widow herself, and told me that it's not OK for me to keep the pace up the way that I had been, and she brought the cavalry.
So fast forward to the fall, five years later - I came to a different realization.
I needed to protect my personal time. And I need to do it in a way that doesn't rely on my employer to bring the cavalry.
The universe sometimes takes really aggressive actions to get our attention. Since I was complacent and HAPPY at that job, I had no desire to leave. Things were going well.
Until they weren't.
We lost a major contract and I found myself unemployed. Along with MANY others.
Now I work from home, and while I don't "make" my own hours, due to a difference in time zone and the flexibility of my entire team, I can be more flexible and kinder to myself.
For example, my inbox doesn't really start hopping til lunchtime. I use my mornings for light admin work and catching up on the routines for work that my customer time can get bogged down with.
It also enables me to throw laundry in, put up a stew for dinner and order my groceries online. That's just my lunch hour.
I will walk away, at least 2 days a week, at 5. I will take my Pilates class down the block. I may teach and / or have a rehearsal or meeting. Then I will return home, check to see if my inbox was off the charts and then start my bedtime routine.
Another bad habit I picked up in other jobs, I don't take vacation. I love that I am urged to take vacation here. I plan to take a few days soon - not all at once. But I do need to schedule some things. Better work / life balance.
I don't panic about leaving for a dr appt mid day. I don't become resentful if I have to stay an extra hour.
Do I have perfect Work/life balance? no. Am I working on it? Yes. Has it improved? Dramatically.
This new job is actually forcing me to have better work/life balance.
Here are the benefits: I have less stress. Because I CAN get it all done. My home environment is getting attended to more promptly and I am having some fun redecorating. I am finally donating some of John's clothes and I am re-envisioning my space. I hung my art.
Once again, the universe extends a hand.
Are you in work/life balance?
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