Juggling
When I went back to work after Baby I was determined to find a work life balance so that he would not feel neglected. That meant being focussed at work so that the tasks that needed to be completed were done on time and there would be minimal work taken home. To avoid working at home altogether was impossible but making sure that home time was time focussed on family is important. This took away some of the guilt from leaving Baby in nursery from 6 months of age- I get to do my career things but when I am home I am totally there for him and my husband. To a large extent that has worked well as I knew my job quite well, knew what to expect and was able to plan ahead.
However, I felt that I needed a bit of challenge at work to spice things up a bit. Familiar things are easier to manage but can get a bit stale. So I recently took up a bit more responsibility at work and have been taking work home a bit more than usual. So far I have managed to slip work in after Baby has gone to sleep but I have noticed my thoughts drifting towards work when I should be playing with Baby. Perhaps it is the novelty of the new job and the challenges associated with it: I would classify myself as a problem solver and I gravitate towards interesting problems. In a way rocking the boat and having to find balance again is in itself an interesting problem. I think a bit of self-discipline is needed: the boundary has to be bed time. Before bed time needs to be about family as we would have not seen each other for the best part of a day and it would do us good to regroup and share our experiences. Work will have to wait till after Baby has gone to sleep. Weekends should be mainly family time. The older generations seemed to adhere to that more or less well so we should be able to do that too, especially since we have so much modern paraphernalia to make life generally easier. Or should one say we have all the modern paraphernalia to blur the lines between work and home just that little bit more? At the end of the day it is a choice and one must be brave about one's choices.
However, I felt that I needed a bit of challenge at work to spice things up a bit. Familiar things are easier to manage but can get a bit stale. So I recently took up a bit more responsibility at work and have been taking work home a bit more than usual. So far I have managed to slip work in after Baby has gone to sleep but I have noticed my thoughts drifting towards work when I should be playing with Baby. Perhaps it is the novelty of the new job and the challenges associated with it: I would classify myself as a problem solver and I gravitate towards interesting problems. In a way rocking the boat and having to find balance again is in itself an interesting problem. I think a bit of self-discipline is needed: the boundary has to be bed time. Before bed time needs to be about family as we would have not seen each other for the best part of a day and it would do us good to regroup and share our experiences. Work will have to wait till after Baby has gone to sleep. Weekends should be mainly family time. The older generations seemed to adhere to that more or less well so we should be able to do that too, especially since we have so much modern paraphernalia to make life generally easier. Or should one say we have all the modern paraphernalia to blur the lines between work and home just that little bit more? At the end of the day it is a choice and one must be brave about one's choices.
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