Balancing Work and Family

by Elena T

I am glad to take any suggestions on this one, wise classmates, since I am absolutely horrible at balancing work and family. Even as I write this, it is Saturday night and my boyfriend is sitting on the couch next to me watching a movie. Oh, and this post isn’t due for weeks. My life is all work, minimal shirk. Help!

I wouldn’t say that my difficulty is in balancing work and family, but rather work with everything else (fun, relaxation, reading, enjoyment, etc.). During the school year and the academic year, it feels that my life stops to a certain degree. I feel that my days are micromanaged and covered in neatly-written post-it notes that remind me of alllll the tasks that I am to complete in one day. I make lists of books to read during the summer. I bookmark restaurants I would like to eat at on my next free weekend. I work 7 to 3 at work and then 3:30 to 10:30 at my other job and school work, most days. I am so close to burn out!

What frustrates me the most about this situation, though, is that the busier that I get, the more work I take on. I feel that I might get too busy to finish an assignment, so I like to “stockpile” my work and get ahead on tasks when I get a chance. This sounds pretty logical (I think), but the reality is that it becomes a bit of a self-perpetuating cycle that gives me the sense that I always have something else that I could be doing. Lately, I’ve found it helpful to make a checklist of goals that I would like to complete in a particular day. I have made every effort to STOP when I reach this target, but breaking the habit completely is still a work in progress.

I work the way I do because I want to enjoy the rewards of success and achievement later. But the secret of life is enjoying the passage of time, not hurrying and working it away until the next vacation or summer comes along. Well, you know what they say, acknowledging the problem is the first step…

Any advice?