One of my biggest challenges is balance. I'm talking about work-life balance. For most of my working life, I have been all about the work. My whole identity was wrapped up in what I did rather than who I was or how I lived.
Seven years ago, I decided that I was going to add more dimension to my life, to balance work and personal life. I decided to put myself higher on my priority list and finally take care of myself. I quit a job that was incredibly stressful, depleted my savings and took 9 months off work. I wasn't planning on taking that much time off, but this was 2010 and jobs were scarce.
During those months off, I detoxed from my workaholic life, met Don and fell in love, spent a lot of time working out at the gym, bought a cute beach cruiser and rode it everywhere, cooked a lot and discovered a new love for it. I went through all my possessions and purged what I didn't need or use. I learned to relax and not feel guilty about it.
I realized during my time off that I needed to change careers. My former profession in international education/study abroad consumed me, seven days a week. I found myself a job in the travel industry, working in a call center where I booked cruises and land tours. It was stressful because I am a perfectionist and this was a new field with a big learning curve. But I had set hours and wasn't allowed to work beyond those hours. That structure allowed me a better balance in my life.
After 5 years, the call center life palled. I was working from home with a good schedule, had mastered the job and was making pretty good money. But I was bored. I realized that while having work-life balance was very important, so was job satisfaction. I was offered a chance to work in a very small concierge travel agency and jumped at the chance. It meant going back to work in an office, moving 20 miles north to avoid a huge commute, and a slight but continual deterioration of the line between work and private life.
I am still fighting to keep a balance. I try not to work too much after my regular work day, although sometimes it is unavoidable. I told my new boss in our initial discussion that I needed to have that balance and she agreed and has been supportive and respectful of that. She has realized what I discovered about myself and is true for most people - I am much more effective at work when I have time away from it.
Maintaining a balance will always be a struggle for me, but I refuse to go back to where I was. If you are facing this issue as well, I found a good article with some great tips: 5 Secrets to Achieving Work-Life Balance. It's a lot of common sense advice, but sometimes we need someone else to remind us.
After 5 years, the call center life palled. I was working from home with a good schedule, had mastered the job and was making pretty good money. But I was bored. I realized that while having work-life balance was very important, so was job satisfaction. I was offered a chance to work in a very small concierge travel agency and jumped at the chance. It meant going back to work in an office, moving 20 miles north to avoid a huge commute, and a slight but continual deterioration of the line between work and private life.
I am still fighting to keep a balance. I try not to work too much after my regular work day, although sometimes it is unavoidable. I told my new boss in our initial discussion that I needed to have that balance and she agreed and has been supportive and respectful of that. She has realized what I discovered about myself and is true for most people - I am much more effective at work when I have time away from it.
Maintaining a balance will always be a struggle for me, but I refuse to go back to where I was. If you are facing this issue as well, I found a good article with some great tips: 5 Secrets to Achieving Work-Life Balance. It's a lot of common sense advice, but sometimes we need someone else to remind us.
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