Balancing Work and Life

When I was in college I had a full time load of classes and three part time jobs. The most common questin I heard was what do you do in your spare time? My usual answer was, what spare time? Having all of those jobs really wasn't bad and since they were things I enjoyed doing, trying to make time for something extra was not a real concern.

When deciding how to devide work time and "fun" time the first consideration should be which one is going to pay the bills. If you have a job doing something you really love and find it fun or enjoyalbe to go to work ocunt yourself Very lucky. If; however, you have a job that you do not particularly enjoy then finding a way to aleviate the stress is just as important.

After the bill issue comes family. For those who do not have a family, while important, life outside of work is less of an issue. For example, if you are single then it is considerably easier to balance a schedule and do outside stuff when it is convenient for you to do so. But; on the other hand, when a family comes into play then they must also be considered in the life decision. Perhaps setting aside one night a week that is strictly a family only night where you can spend time doing things with the family. If your job allows you to do this without problmes and on more than one night a week then you probably already have achieved a balance and can consider yourself among the fortunate.

The world today is full of people who only think of themselves and the almighty dollar (in whatever form that takes). People who work for this type of individual can find themselves in a difficult position when it comes to gettting time off for the family. The pre-dream sequence of Ebaneezer Scrooge obviously needs to get a life of his own and make it better for all concerned.

There really aren't any hard and fast rules for achieving the perfect balanced of work and life. It is an issue that must be considered on an individual basis where numerous factors must be taken in, like are others involved, does the job allow for such things, can I afford it, can I perhaps change my work schedule to accomodate other things (flex time, four day week, etc.).

Life frequently gets in the way of life and not always in a positive manner, but maybe we can sometimes beat Mr. Murphy at his own game and have some fun along the way with a little forethought and planning.