Do not bring your work at home!

Do not bring your work at home!

WORK-LIFE BALANCE

To find the perfect work-life balance, that is the ultimate question, I believe most professionals worldwide are thinking about nowadays...

It is not an easy goal to have, and there is no exact formula for achieving it. In this short article, I will try to explain my version of working towards this goal.

I learned many lessons while studying and working in Holland, but one of the lessons that I think about most, and value is how the Dutch have found the right work-life balance! It is easier for them than for us, of course. We have significantly suffered under communism, we are still struggling while Holland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world. Anyhow, the Dutch formula is pretty simple: Do not bring your work at home!

The average Dutch person does not answer every phone call, reply to every message like us, sometimes they do not bring their phone with them at all. After 18.00, and on the weekends, they are mostly unavailable for work-related matters, unless it is an emergency, of course! We Albanians react the opposite way as we feel the urge to respond to every phone call or text message, and to have the phone with us at all times! Again, the cases in both countries are very different, but still, there are many similarities.

It is still crucial to me not to bring work to my home, as there must be boundaries between working time and time without working (family, personal, and friends). I run one of the biggest Digital-Communications Agencies in Albania, and I still make a lot of time for my family. The time spent with family is never enough though, and I tend to ‘use’ every minute of it. My advice for any entrepreneur, business owner is not to take the chance at all costs! For me, it is not worth it if I have to change my lifestyle forever. True, there are times (weeks and maybe months) that we are very busy with some projects or clients, but it is never indefinite. There is an exact deadline in any project, and I know that after some time, I will get back to the lifestyle that I have chosen.  

Many people need to prove to themselves or to others that they can do something at any cost, but to change the lifestyle and the work-life balance forever, it is simply not worth it! Take risks, yes, but do not sell your house to invest in a business. Do not take all the risks; always leave a door open.

Most importantly, make time for your family, yourself, or your friends, and try to enjoy what you do.  

Dr Tharaka Gunarathne

TV Psychiatrist | International Keynote Speaker

4 年

Nice post ! This is helpful!

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Dont transmit the work stress at family as everybody is home. Too difficult, everybody is overstressed.?

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Harry Giannakidis

Senior Software Engineer Technical Lead at OpenBet

4 年

Great take on this complicated subject. It's not easy to hit the breaks when everywhere receiving the opposite messages. Take time, breath, evaluate and adjust, so to became a better version of yourself.

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