Work Life Balance
Introduction
Have you ever watched the rope-balancing act on the street or in circus or on the television? It looks so difficult and leaves you wondering how they manage to do it. But one rarely realizes that he/she is doing the same in the fast paced life in metros, which needs one to balance between work and personal life.
‘Work Life Balance’ has become a catchword. Ask anyone working in the IT sector and one can know what is life behind those posh buildings where cabs keep moving in and out endlessly. The corporate lifestyle comes with its own advantages and pitfalls. Prolonged working hours, catching up with deadlines and the duties towards the home or the call of one’s personal life makes one to jump from one role to the other frequently.
The Trend
Work Life Balance is becoming all the more relevant even in a traditional country like India after the software boom. The time where offices had fixed working hours with rest after the office hours is becoming a myth. However, they are covered up with the lucrative packages being offered, which makes one to feel his/her dreams have come true. The younger generation of middle class families earns a monthly salary, which at times even surpasses what their parents or peers would have earned in a year.
Life feels good for the youngsters who now have the power to buy whatever they want unlike the older generation, where one had to think twice before even thinking of buying anything expensive. So far so good, but the younger generation is loosing out on so many things, which they themselves cannot comprehend in the earlier stages but when they become aware of the malaise, it’s already too late.
Some of the younger individuals tend to compare their life with other people in the office, who lead a luxurious life and try to reach those levels by spending extravagantly to attain those levels.
Today, everyone irrespective of their interests or abilities wants to get into an IT job. Whether the job suits them or not is secondary. The vision of working in a high rise building, earning a five or six figure salary, on-site opportunities and other similar factors are luring the younger generation towards such jobs. Rarely does one realize that he/she is falling into a vicious circle of work and stress.
New, trendy gadgets, laptops, blackberry, PDAs (personal digital assistant) and so on which boast of staying connected anytime, anywhere is resulting in people working even after their work hours. Very few people dare to switch off their mobile phones once they are at home or on a vacation. The need to check their ‘precious’ inbox is very tempting even on a family vacation. Working for long hours is becoming fashionable. Spouse is not having time for family is a style statement.
The Gun Backfires
The fact that one is working in a multinational company, which is renowned worldwide, makes one proud. The huge pay packages received at the beginning of every month makes one even more pleased. But one fails to understand at what cost he/she is achieving it. Many people don’t bother to think about it. However, as time progresses one tends to realize what he/she has fallen into. The fast paced office life would have left the personal and social life a lot more behind making one wonder whether he has gained something or lost many things.
People are complaining of not having a balanced work and domestic life like never before. The work load is taking its toll not only on the worker but also his/her family. One tends to spend more time at office, team outings, conferences or on-site projects than at home. Even at home they are busy attending calls or finishing some backlogs. This increases the gap between the individual and his family, be it the parents, spouse or the children. Communication in the family is decreasing day by day.
This is resulting in strangled relationships. Divorce rates are increasing. Live-in relations are increasing, which was unknown in India few years back. People tend to forget that one has certain basic duties towards his family or partner, which needs to be taken care of. The caring attitude of an individual is washed away with one expecting the other to understand their responsibilities at office and cope up with the deficits of personal life.
Shortage of time, low energy levels, losing temper very often, too many things to be done all the time, dissatisfaction in work and personal life are a few symptoms indicating a strain in work balance relation.
Balancing Aids
Balancing aids
One need to realize that he/she works to make a livelihood, to make him or herself independent, have time for extra curricular activities and have job satisfaction which is very important. The nature of work is such that it is
Faq and answers for stress
Written by: Healthplus24 team
Date last updated: August 10, 2011