Hello Grasshoppa,
We always hear the term work-life balance everywhere especially during our 9-5 job. Ask back yourself, do you have a work-life balance? In Malaysia, we are known to be one of the most hardworking people & we do take our job seriously. PS : It’s my personal opinion but I strongly believe it is true. It may be a good thing or it may be a bad thing. The good thing is, we are able to enjoy better bonus or salary if our company appreciates us & we are able to progress further. The bad thing is, we may be married to our job & staying back at office to get our job completed.
I am a true believer in work-life balance as I believe we should get our work done within working hour, spend time with family & friends, workout & have our own time as well. I can’t deny that I do my 9-5 job work every single weekend & I spend most of my time working on Black Belt Millionaire Blog.
You are paid to do your job & it is your responsibility to get your work done. But…. it is up to you if you are able to finish it within working hours or not. I can’t deny that sometimes we may stay back for OT but if it happens all the time, it is either your company have problem or your time management is inefficient. I believe that you are able to dictate the pace & ensure you finish your job on time.
If your job is your main priority in life & that is the only thing you do, you should fully focus on it but do remember to take care of your health as well. If you have family & your priority is your family, do allocate your time right to ensure that you spend it well with them. It is all about planning & prioritizing what is important in life.
My definition of work-life balance include eating at the right time, working within working hours, spend sufficient time with my loved ones & working out. Investing in myself by reading is also part of the routine that I focus on. Sleeping 8 hours on a daily basis is something I do try but it is hard to cope especially after my work out hours. I usually finish my workout at 10.30pm & getting up at 7.30am. 24 hours is more than enough for us if we are able to utilize it well.
Each year, my director will be announcing his goals from his day job to his personal goals. One of his goals caught my attention about “Being Present”. Being Present in his definition is to be present whenever he spends time with his family. Nowadays, whenever we are with our friends or family, we will be spending most of our time on our phones rather than talking to our friends. Being present to him means, putting down his phone or work & spend quality time with his family. As a 40++ year old man, he is one of the fittest men I’ve known & he does Muay Thai & BJJ too.
Your health should be your priority as well. You can eat right & get your workout in before or after your work. What if you really have no time or do not have the budget to join any gyms? You can always find short 15-30 min workout videos on YouTube to workout. No excuses Grasshoppa.
Our 9-5 jobs may be stressful to us sometimes & having a short or long vacation will help to relieve your stress. You should plan your holidays but do ensure it is within your budget & never go on debt for your holiday. Any trip within Malaysia is good as long as you have the right company.
Each of us deserves a work life balance & never expect anything lesser than that. If you think your current job can’t give you that, perhaps you should move on to other opportunities. With the right goals, right time management & good employer, I believe all of us are able to achieve work-life balance.
OSS!
