How do you maintain a work-life balance?

Question

A new study reveals Canadians, these days, have less time for family and spend more hours at work. Read more here: http://ca.blog.360.yahoo.com/blog-NwuWaPQoeKdM_fkq7QX_VJZjjCc-?cq=1&p=373

(Come back in a few days to vote for your favourite answer)

Answer 1

Simple; make it happen.

People who become a slave to their jobs will live shorter lives, have less healthy relationships with their family, and are feeding the system of corporate exploitation.

Find a good job with a reasonable schedule, and shun jobs that require 60-70 hours per week. It's not worth making an extra $30,000 per year if you are never off work to enjoy it.

Personally, I sought out a job that only requires about 30 hours work a week. In fact it is noon and I have not even gone into work yet. I earn double the average income in this area, with about half the work load.

I believe that the new trend of outrageous working hours, minimum vacation and sick pay, is corporate exploitation at its worst and being a part of that is adding fuel to the fire.

Answer 2

That is a tough one. I think the best thing to do is not get yourself into that kind of situation, it might be hard, but maybe it's time to cut down on the expenses. I think another factor is being in a job you love, that might take the stress down a notch.
I'm still really young so I don't have much experience about this; I personally am a writer and have a part time job (10 hr week) and I love both my jobs.
As for employers, find a way the employee can make you more money in less hours, find a way I have faith in you.
My mother works an average of 40 hrs a week sometimes more and my brother 50, I'm not sure about my Dad and my sister has the same job as I do; I nearly choked when I heard "70 hr work week new norm!" I don't think anyone (especially anyone with young children.) should be working that many hours; it's just insane! Although I'm feeling kinda silly about my 10 hr week, but then again I'm not married.

Answer 3

The secret: live below your means.

If you are like most people, your life is all about struggling to own nice things. It's also about struggling to pay off debt. This leads one to think that maybe, just maybe, debt has something to do with want. You want things you can't afford. The problem is, you buy them anyway. You don't think. You just buy. The debt comes later.

You must learn to get past the want and focus on what you really need. Believe it or not, it is possible to live a full and happy life without luxurious things. It's just a matter of figuring out what matters most: an expensive sports car that you may end up living in, or your friends, family and good health? You decide.

So, if you make 40 grand a year, think twice before you buy those $400 designer jeans. Do you really need them? Could you live without them? How about using that $400 to pay off some credit card debt? This is where logic comes into play.

Know what you can and can't afford. And, as they say, don't bite off more than you can chew.

Answer 4

Do not believe for a minute that there is an easy way out of anything. Don't even believe its easy to answer any perplexing question with an easy answer. That is the problem with us Canadians always having an easy way out. We learn this in High School - if Calculus 101 is hard then lets try something else or I hate Biology - I got to cut up stuff. Lets face it, if Canadians want to continue to have what they have had in the past we better keep working harder and better still smarter. Maybe think of starting a business or something on your own. The 3rd world of yesterday is competing with you and they are ready to sacrifice everything because they have tasted what we have. And maybe we can get out of this rut shortly but be prepared for the long haul. And maybe even start on some areas where these new global competitors cannot beat us in the next 100 years. Think of Rolex, Rolls Royce, Hand-made teddy bears made in the USA and Canada costing 80 Dollars (a made in China doll costs only 5 dollars) that are being grabbed up by people who appreciate the quality. It can be done! It has to be done!

Answer 5

Since having our children I have tried to have a very short commute. It is currently about 10 minutes. I also work about 40 hours, no more, per week. I am lucky that my wife is at home. Nights with "kid" stuff on is not a rush, since I am home around 5:00 or shortly after and dinner is already on the table. We live modestly, two vehicles but the newest was recently bought used and is five years old. I am now driving the old van, bought three years old nearly eleven years ago. We drive a total of maybe 20K km annually, which is less than most people put on one car. We live in a 50 year old bungalow in a pretty average neighbourhood which is a bit cramped for the five of us but we get by. I agree with the previous poster who points out our societal desire to have two new cars and huge houses. We use half the gas and hydro of friends because we are heating and cooling half the space. Our taxes are lower since the house is only worth $350K instead of $500K. I always say its not the cost of buying the house that kills you, it's the operating expense. Everyone makes choices, we chose not to keep up with the Jones's and have a pretty good life.

Answer 6

A large aspect of modernization during the last 100 years has been to free ourselves from the back braking (literally) manual labor that our forefathers wanted so desperately to be free of. In the meantime we have traded physical stress for mental stress. The irony is that mental stress causes physical stress so we spend money and time in the gym where we do what? Replicate the physical strain we decided to run away from in the first place. That, my friends, is irony.

I am from Spain (living in Toronto) and would like to address the myth on the siesta. We do not quit work after 1 p.m., rather we go home and spend time with our families then come back to work at 4 or 5 pm and work for another 5 hours. This allows a person to spend the best part of the day with their family and friends while breaking up day into two very productive work periods. In reality Spaniards work longer and more efficiently which is how we've managed to secure one of the best places to Live and work in the world. Listen up Canada! You are on the path to the same place the United States finds itself in. A society which has lost perspective on Life and amounts to nothing more than a from of modern day corporate slavery!

Answer 7

Live within your means. It is nearly an impossible task, but it MUST be the goal. If you are working too many hours, chances are it is because you have a high debt load and need the extra money for day-to-day expenses after your debt payments. I have a good job. I make decent money. I work 40-50 hours a week, by choice. I try to keep a good pace and if I get behind, I get stressed, so a couple of extra hours every now and then keeps the in-box manageable.

What I don't have is the debt load. I struggled for 6 years after university. I paid off student loans...30k. I paid off credit cards...8k. I paid and paid and paid. Now my "modest" income is mine. I have a mortgage, everybody does. It's reasonable. I don't have a car payment, I have a nice car I maintain well. Etc. etc...

I don't have the monthly bills that kill. I paid those off and live on what I make. If it's 2 days to payday and I've spent my cheque, I can guarantee I have enough food in the house and gas in the car to make it 2 days. Then I can spend again. These are the choices you need to make.

Answer 8

Set your own priorities - family first, new car every 2 years last
Move to a small town - no commute, less demanding lifestyle, more opportunities for meaningful community involvement.
Chuck your need to have the lastest, biggest, best of everything
Take family vacations
Get out of town on the weekend, go camping
DO NOT check your work email from home after hours.

We all make choices; just make sure they are ones you can live with. If your priority is the outside face that you present to the world complete with the hollow happiness that only rampant commercialism and social snobbery can deliver, then suck it up. If your priority is your family, your health, and treading lightly on the planet, then you are probably a happier human being.

Answer 9

I work about 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday, however, I do have every other Monday off, This makes a fairly dull job bearable, because I know I have a 'long' weekend every other week. It is a fact that everyone is working longer, for less purchasing power. Think about it - about 30 or 40 years ago, minimum wage was $1.00 per hour. That could pay for 10 chocolate bars (10 cents each in those days!). Nowadays, minimum wage is $6 per hour - but chocolate bars are $1.00 each, so you can buy only 6 chocolate bars with your minimum wage. That's a simplistic example, but I believe it illustrates the problem affecting those of us who are not getting to gorge on the corporate pie. The rich are getting richer, and the poor, poorer.

Answer 10

Well, I am going back to work after a year of maternity leave next week. I am juggling in my heart whether to go back to work or not. Finishing at 5 and getting dinner on the table, homework and making lunches doesn't give much family time when all is done. I am going to ask my employer to work part time from home. I think if you can get remote access then why not ask to work at home, who says you can't have the best of both worlds, but you have to ask. Remember family is most important, a job is replaceable but you can't get back lost time with your kids. Sometimes you just need to cut back the luxuries and go back to the simple life. Everyone needs a job to eat and put a roof over their head, but you don't need to eat a steak every night, drive two cars and have that 3000 square foot house to be happy, sometimes smaller is better. Cut back and get back more with your family.