Monday, October 01, 2007

Living to work Vs Working to live

Well I have not posted a personal whingey rant in a while so here goes..

The title of his post says it all. For the long number of years I have worked I have yet to find a balance between work and home life. Unfortunately with all my best intentions it always seems to veer towards more work and less play.

I don't know what it is?? I am one of those people who has to perform well. Dunno why, just in my nature I guess. Anything I do I have to give it 100% or else I feel that I have let myself down. Oh my god I have some major issues...... It is only while writing this that I can see them. So how do I get that balance? I really do not know.

I reckon if you ask any of my friends and family about this they will only reaffirm what I have already said. The amount of time that passes between phoning home, calling over to friends, going out is getting silly.

Working in retail it is an accepted fact that you will inevitably work many weekends etc. But my problem is that I wont go out if I am working the next day. I hate the hangover and am about 50% less effective than when I am sober. It doesn't help that while it is also accepted that managers will "do a bit extra" 30 odd extra hours in the week is excessive. This then leads to spending any days off you have, which are normally split and not together, in bed. Comatose.

I have been approached by an old boss with a great offer and have accepted it. So my hours should definitely decrease. However this old boss knows the kind of person I am and the effort I put into everything I do so will he expect me to go over and above all the time??

Just writing this post is helping me to make some life choices and the fact that I am now more than aware of the effect this is having on my home and social life is great. Any advice from anyone who has been through or is going through something similar would be welcomed. I know this blog is not designed as an ask Dr Phil kind off site, but it is nice to have somewhere that you can vent .

On a lighter note, I had my first Wispa bar on Saturday. Mmmmmmmmm. Get one before they are all gone again!!

4 comments:

  1. Must get a wispa.

    I work late but not mad late. I know people who work mad late, others who don't give a f-ck. It's all about attitute and priorities - and they can change. You might think people expect you to work late, but it doesn't matter to them so long as you do your normal hours. I've worked with a few people who stayed til 9 or 11 each night, over time they were replaced with people who left at 6, and could do the same job.

    I say make the job change, start off with the working hours you want the stick with and it'll be all good.

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  2. Maybe you need a strategy like: once a week I will definitely spend doing X and once a month I will contact Y or whatever and put as much effort into the personal strategy as you do into your work life. If it's a plan that you have promised yourself it might be a pesonal goal to stick to it.
    Just a suggestion.
    Would murder a wispa now, mmmmh, straight from the fridge with a piping hot latté to go with it......mmmmmhhhhh

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  3. oh is that my son try to send a recent photo to remind what u look like

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  4. I have so many friends Idiot who are in the same boat as you. Some of the blog here but have chosen not to comment, strangely :)

    I used to be lie that alrigh, devoted 22 hours a day to the job even when I didn't have to. I suppose priorities change with age, kids and realising that no matter how hard you work it won't stop them firing you at random.

    Now, I'd like to think I have some balance. I still work fantastically hard but deliberately segregate everything else for family, friends, me. Your balance will come in time if you want it to. (Went a bit Zen there, sorry)

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