Work-Life Balance: A Reality Or A Myth? And My Original Poem “The Journey Home”
Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed my work. Besides the monthly pay check, my job also provides me with a sense of satisfaction and achievement. I am also blessed that my job gives me the opportunity to travel overseas as well.
In many jobs, we need to put in long hours and it can be stressful as well. The expectations of the bosses need to be met whilst we managed our subordinates. Clients can be demanding and difficult to please and our colleagues may not co-operative at times. Resources such as manpower and budget allocated to a project may not be sufficient. At times, unrealistic targets and deadlines are set. Therefore, with the increasing demand and pressure from work, is it still possible to achieve work-life balance?
In the present-day work situation, there is increasing competition and globalization as we move towards a more borderless world. At the same time, with the present tough economic situations, companies are struggling to stay afloat. All these translate to mounting pressure and stress that employees faced at work. Companies are embarking on cost cutting measures and at the same time expect job productivity to increase. In addition, with the proliferation social messaging apps, employees are now at the beck and call of their companies.
Therefore, it is not surprising that in general job dissatisfaction is on the increase. At the same time mounting pressure at work has negatively impacted the health of the employees. A number of illness suffered by employees are found to be work related. A study conducted found out that when a person suffers from a heart attack, the probability of him suffering from a second attack is actually directly proportionate to the level of his job dissatisfaction. To put it simply, the higher the level of job dissatisfaction, the higher the probability of suffering from a second attack which maybe fatal.
Work-life balance is increasingly difficult to achieve as we need to put in long hours of work and faced mounting pressure and stress. After a gruelling day at the office, I look forward to going home where I can relax and destress. My poem below describes my feelings and emotions as I drive back home. After I have recuperated and re-charged at home, it is back to another day’s work at the office. This is the routine that modern day employees faced in the rat race.
The Journey Home
I have done my work
I am on my way home
Meetings conducted and reports done
At home my worries are gone
I have deadlines to meet
And customers to greet
Problem solving skills put to the test
Coming home for a well-deserved rest
I have my KPIs and target
Only at home I can forget
I need to prepare the budget
If I retire now I have no regrets
Bosses are not easy to please
Neither do they listen to our pleas
The pressure is mounting
At home it is soothing and comforting
So how is your work situation? Are you able to spend quality time with your family despite the hours that you put in the office? Is work-life balance is reality or a myth for you? Feel free to put in your comments in the comment section. All comments will be up-voted.
Do check out my previous posts
First Steemit Meeetup In Kuching And Other Firsts For Me
Hidden Gems Of Magnificient Moscow Part 1: The Troitse-Sergeiva Lavra (A UNESCO World Heritage Site) At Sergiev Posad
Spreading positivity one post at a time.
Charles
If you like my writing please up-vote, share and comment. Please help me to spread the message of positivity and support on Steemit by resteeming this post.
You touched a very important topic, especially those who work in an office are exposed to this extreme stress and demands to do more and more and more. Although from an older generation I have the behaviour of the 20-30 year old, mixing work and social life throughout the day. I have the luxury I dont have to go to the office, I can work at home when I want. At times it all gets a bit too much for me, I have my tricks to wind down, most of the time in 10 minutes or so. I generally walk a little block, think of very positive things in life, friends, family or whatever and I usually can continue with a much lower stress level. I know it is very hard for most, but although my balance of work/personal life is a bit geared to work, I also know how to maximise social time, I can party hard for instance to let go of all the stress build up! :)
It is a big issue as stress in the office is now showing up as health problems for employees. After I put in the hours in the office, I really look forward to go home and unwind. You are lucky to be able to work from home.
I feel lucky as well, I feel so lucky I could get out of the corporate system and start working for myself. Thanks :)
Is your work internet related?
It was for a long time, IT and Telecoms. It kinda still is internet related but depends on the project I'm working on.
I am looking forward to my retirement in 3 years time. Then I will be able to spend more time at Steemit.
Retirement, super that one is around the corner. I still have quite a bit to go for that to happen :)
If we have to work, then there is no life balance.
In Singapore, the pace of life is very fast, work life balance is very difficult to achieve. At the end of it, it depends on our priorities.
very hard to achieve work life balance. But if we learn that art it's directly proportionate to happiness.
Agreed that it is tough to achieve work life balance. We really need to work at it.
Great post. I think it's important to at least have the intention of achieving that balance. Intention goes a long way. It can be done! :)
It can be done but it is not easy. We need to put in the extra effort to achieve work life balance but it is worth it. I am glad that you liked my post and do follow me for more.
Depends on your profession and where you work. Jobs with work life balance normally comes with a lower pay but at least you'll feel happier.
Sometimes there is a trade off. It also depends which one you put more priority.
Work life balance is a dream. It i bad for the bottom line of corporate America and they will demand more and more of your time if they need. It is a vicious cycle.
A lot of times, it may depend on the company that you work for. It is not at all easy to achieve.
That is true. You are lucky if you able to achieve it. I am still trying to figure out how to do that, lol.
There are a lot of trade offs. I can't claim that I have achieved the balance but there are a few tips which I will share in my next post.
Sometimes as much as you want to please, you just have to say "no" for your well-being and health. Right now there seems to be a "race to the bottom" which is the situation in which companies and countries try to compete with each other by cutting wages and living standards for workers, and the production of goods is moved to the place where the wages are lowest and the workers have the fewest rights.
Companies have to cut cost to stay competitive and this affecting the workers and the work environment.
So very true... But I think the shift to 'living' is finally being realised - as long as not over-done (enjoy too much and forget to work!) it should be a better appreciation of Life. :)
In everything there has to be balance and trade off.
Following you now.
Thank you! :) Look forward to reading more of your posts!
Thank you for your kind comments. It is very encouraging for me to know that my posts are being appreciated.
You just mirrored my feelings on most days. Just this morning, I felt like throwing in the towel. I just had it up to here with my job, it's terrible. I would say that the boss will exploit you, enslave you to the extent that you loose your own identity. I stopped having satisfaction in my job a long time ago and I rather see it now as 'a necessary evil '. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing. I hope that things will get better at work.
@originalworks