Having recently celebrated a 10-year anniversary working for March Construction, I am fortunate enough to get an additional week of vacation to use this year!
Sounds great, right?—But in this crazy world that we live and work in, sometimes you just can’t seem to find the time to relax, unwind or simply get away.
Every year it seems to be the same scenario—One month or two before my anniversary date at work, I think to myself, “Wow! Another year has passed and I still have 8 days to use before I lose my days off!” So I start taking some half days or some long weekends as my work still needs to get done during those last months.
Early mornings, late nights, long hours, working weekends and family responsibilities all take a toll on our lives. We must find the time for all of these things, including our family, and we need to give our minds and bodies time to recover or else the inevitable will happen—burn out or a mental meltdown. If that happens, it doesn’t help anyone—not your family, friends, the company you work for or the clients and subcontractors that you work with.
Life today is truly a balancing act; Managing how you balance your work, family and personal time is a job in itself. In this day and age, we are connected to our offices, co-workers, subcontractors, owners, friends, family, and just about every other person in this world 24-7. How do we balance our time?
You must make time to take care of yourself! Coming home every day in a bad mood, thinking about work and neglecting your family will only ultimately lead to an unhappy life which will have an overall negative impact on your wellbeing, affecting work as well as home life.
Maintaining a healthy personal life is challenging, which might require just as much effort as work life. Being there for family effects their lives and daily routines as well, impacting how well they do. For example, remembering your wife’s birthday, your children’s recitals or championship games, or coming home happy and being present with family, creates a better home environment and personal life in general.
I am lucky that I love the work that I do, no matter how off-balance I may become once in a while. There may be some days and times that I need to restore the balance in my life and to remind myself to just keep doing the best that I can do. I get great satisfaction in doing a good job, juggling my work and home life to be as balanced as it possibly can be.
I am fortunate enough to work for a company that appreciates and recognizes the hard work and dedication of their employees, so I will continue to work hard and balance my responsibilities as best as I can so that I can be the best employee, co-worker, husband, father, son, brother, and friend that I can be.
So how do you find your balance? Do you choose to put your phone away after a certain time of night? Relax with the family for a nice quiet dinner each and every night? Have wellness weekends? Force yourself to take the days off during the year and plan a trip with the family or friends and limit your time to checking your phone and e-mails?
Hopefully, you have figured it out and can help some of your co-workers, friends, and family find a balance in their lives, as sometimes we all need help staying on track. If you don’t realign yourself, it will get the best of you and that will not be good for you or anybody else.
So, I ask again. How do you find your balance? Leave a comment below, we would love to hear about work/life balance from your perspective!
By Rob Rinaldo, Project Manager at March Construction
