Having a Work Life Balance During a Recession
As much as we'd like to think we are in the clear, we are still in a recession. Jobs are hard to come by and money is tight for a lot of people. And if you are lucky enough to have a full time job, you might find that the work life balance you once had has gone out the window. Employers are wanting employees to spend more time at the office to make up for the fact that they have less money to hire someone new and so you might find yourself spending far more time at the office than at home. That means more, now than ever, you have to make an effort to get that work life balance back for your benefit and the benefit of your spouse and family.
One change you might find is that your employer encourages working from home over coming into the office to cut costs. This can be beneficial if you know how to deal with it, but it can also be detrimental when handled wrong. You might find that you are spending too much time in the home office, well past the hours you normally would at the office because it's convenient to keep working. Or, you may find the opposite. Distractions of being at home, dealing with kids or talking to your spouse can take away from your work ethic.
The best thing to do is to set a time for work. If you normally work 9 to 5 at the office, then you work 9 to 5 at home. Not an hour earlier or an hour later, but right until 5 and then clock out for the day. You can set aside your lunch time or even plan a 10 minute break in the morning where you can let yourself clean up a little in the house or take a moment to yourself. But you need to hold yourself accountable for your own schedule.
If you find yourself being called into the office a lot, to the point that you are not able to keep up on chores and quality family time, you may need to speak up to your boss. Let them know you have no problem working some extra hours, but you have your limits because you need to take care of things at home. Often, we are too afraid to speak up at work when it comes to trying to have a work life balance, because we think it'll make us look like bad employees. The truth is, our bosses are human too and can understand the need to have home time.
About the Author
http://www.drnancy.net is a New York marriage counseling website for Dr. Nancy Davidson. This is a great resource for those looking for information on maintaining a healthy work/life balance or relationship coaching. http://www.relationshipcoachingny.com/ head to the blog for more information.
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