chilts.org
Andy Chilton
How is your Work/Life Balance?
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Recently I and a few of my work colleagues have been having an interesting time of it. Our project is pretty busy at the moment and it does make you think of the work/life balance.
As you all know, I have been trying to do a four day week recently but haven't been having any luck. I was four days for September and October but back to five days for November and December at the request of my employer. Again when I wanted to be back to four days in January, I was asked if I could do five.
Of course, I said '\i{yes}' because it's hard to refuse when your colleagues are also your friends.
The Problem
But since early January the project has been even busier and there is currently no let up in the amount of work we have to do. For the first 21 days of January, I was in work for at least a few hours (if not usually a full or even longer day) for 17 of them. If I were on a five day week I'd have normally done 13 days and on a four day week I really should have done just 10 days.
I also just cut short a holiday I had pre-planned from five days to just three.
And this is my problem. When someone asks me if I can do something, I invariably say yes. It's silly, I know and it's completely my fault but as I said earlier, I guess I find it hard to say no, especially to people I like.
Work/Life Balance
Unfortunately this does nothing for my work/life balance. My original four day work week dream is not only not happening but pretty much completely shattered. Again, as in November and December I have noticed that I have less time to do the things I enjoy. I have:
- hardly been on my bike in January at all (maybe three times)
- not really cooked a good meal at home
- not kept up with simplifying my life
- hardly spoken to my family in the UK
- missed a neice's birthday for which I will be eternally sorry
I even managed to somehow lose a DVD which I had sold on an internet auction site. I have no idea where it is and I shall be reimbursing the purchasers' price and postage. Not only have I lost out on a few extra dollars, I'm sure I won't get a good rating from the other trader.
So as you can see, my life has both gone out of whack and been pretty much non-existant. I have still seen a few friends here and there but not as many as I would usually. I usually go for coffee with a particular set of friends at least one weekend in each month and since the New Year, I have had to delay it every single weekend and now, there's not even a full weekend left to do it in (this Saturday will also be taken up working).
Extra Work and Who It Affects
We sometimes say to ourselves that "it'll be okay", "it'll calm down soon" or "we'll be able to relax afterwards" but none of these statements are ever true. Firstly, it's not okay when the extra work time starts affecting your family. Secondly it never calms down since commercial projects are incessantly going forward always with something to do. And finally, you don't get time to relax since once the project is done, all the things that need to be fixed up come back and haunt you for weeks if not months afterwards.
Out of those points though, the first is the most interesting in this conversation. Many times we buffer those around us from the realities of having to work overtime. We manage to shield our loved ones from the harsher realities such as nightmares (about work), arguments within work or even just plain old tiredness (whether physical or mental).
But sometimes our buffers become thin or cracks start to show. When working 14 consecutive days, it's hard to shield it anymore from those around us. We start complaining about the smallest things, we're grumpy and we're tired.
And as soon as you start to show it, your family sees it too.
Suddenly your homelife isn't as good as it was, your relationships don't sit as well and your family and friends start complaining that they never see you anymore. I know this because some friends of mine have been complaining for almost two weeks now. My response however is "There's nothing I can do".
Saying What we Don't Believe
Of course, there is something we can do about it and that is to push back on unrealistic work schedules. Having to work extra days, overtime and lunchtimes because of something that is out of your control is pretty demoralising. I have been on projects in the past which had crazy schedules but this particular one is fast becoming one of the hardest I've ever had to work on. Let me also qualify that by saying that on one of my previous projects I had to support a scientific space telescope for the European Space Agency for months beforehand, months after and 12 hours per day for well over a week around launch. So I know about high profile and expensive projects.
Today then, I decided that I shall give my all until project launch which will take us to around the end of January. After that however, I expect I'll not only be back on the four day work weeks but also back to normal hours too. It'll still be busy after launch I know but realities are kicking in now and I know that working these long hours is not good for either myself or those around me.
Instead of believing then that "there is nothing I can do", I shall be instead believing that my dream of a four day work week will soon become reality again - and this time, actually make it happen. Any future projects will just have to schedule me for four instead of five days per week.
Why?
Because I want the 'life' part of my 'work/life' balance back!
How do you put a control on the work part of your work/life balance?
Labels: planning, living, working
Inserted: 2009-01-26 01:11 (1 year, 6 months ago)