All work and no play...
Are you working so hard to earn a living that you end up a pauper in your out-of-work life?
Danger signs that you could be money rich – time poor
At Work:
- You’re still up to your neck in your last project. Nobody could possibly do it as well.
- You work longer hours than anyone else
- You resent colleagues who seem to have found some balance
- You take work home every night and on weekends
- Your schedule has no time for creative and strategic thinking
- You are impatient or edgy with colleagues and family when pressurised
- You find it hard to delegate
- You find it hard to accept even gentle and constructive criticism
- Your responses to crises are emotional and disproportionate
At Home:
- Your kids have stopped telling you about their problems and achievements
- Your partner feels excluded – you don’t row so much as simply not talk anymore – what one husband called ‘a creeping separateness’
- You are often late for important family events
- Your finances are out of control
- You believe yourself when you say, ‘Soon we’ll have more time’
Getting back on track
Consider whether your quality of life has deteriorated in direct relation to an increase in your standard of living. Most people trade their time for money. Is it possible you have gone too far in that direction and need to reduce income or expenditure in order to allow a less pressurised lifestyle?
Consider the possibility that your long hours have more to do with your need to be ‘hard-working’ than the job in hand. The people who most feel free feel they have nothing to prove.
Practise saying ‘no’ in front of a mirror. Imagine every ‘yes’ as a coin in those arcade games that build up with the others near the edge and one day fall off!
Do your part in creating a work culture that honours achievement rather than long hours
Don’t settle long-term in a company that demands your soul or tries to buy your years with money or power
Establish a ‘life board’ – three people you respect who will give counsel and direction
(Taken with permission from 'The Heart of Success')
Written by Rob Parsons.
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