Work-Life Balance

Back in college, all-nighters were a regular occurrence. One time in particular, there was a party Saturday night. It was Friday night and the only thing standing between me and that party was a 20-page paper and one night do it. Of course the professor had given me more than one night to do it, and of course there was Sunday, but I made a deadline and decided I was going to do it within the 10 hours overnight at the library. With half an hour to spare, I completed the paper (and ended up with an A- on the paper).

When I joined the workforce full-time, there were a few of those overnights to meet a proposal deadline. They were a badge of honor, a physical act to show the company how dedicated I was. If I were to do that today, I'd be looked at as crazy. Pushing yourself to be better, achieving aggressive goals, competing with your co-workers to be the best.... all can be positive things if you're working towards them with an appropriate work-life balance.

Gone are the days for me where I can even function after less than 5 hours of sleep, let alone an all-nighter. Here are some things I do to maintain a decent work-life balance:
1. I have at least one vacation planned out. By the time I get back into town from vacation, I already have the next locale chosen. This allows me to always have the ability to bring happy thoughts to the forefront of my brain when I need some positivity.
2. I have dramatically cut back on when I check work email. If I'm hanging out with friends and family, the work email doesn't get checked. France is passing a law that makes checking email after hours illegal.

3. By realizing a job is just a job - it's not your entire life - is very important for me to keep in the back of my head. No one company will shut its doors because you took that two-week European vacation or took off work early to see your daughter's dance recital. Work will be there the next day and the next.
4. Find a good stress reliever. After a particularly stressful day at the office, some people use exercise or laughing with friends as a de-stresser. Me? An hour-long session of Grand Theft Auto trying to get four stars as quickly as possible.