Is Work-Life Balance Important?

All of us have heard of the term ‘work-life balance’.  However how many of us actually have it or appreciate the real need for it? How many of us really sit down and think about achieve work life balance? Without having a good work life balance there can be a detrimental affect on the rest of our lives – our social lives, our health, family, how we feel about life and the world and so on. 

Findings from a survey conducted by the Mental Health Foundation give a good indication of how we’re feeling about work and how it is impacting us.  The questionnaire looked at the amount of time people devoted to work, their reasons for it and feelings for it – they found the following:

• One third of respondents feel unhappy or very unhappy about the time they devote to work.
• More than 40% of employees are neglecting other aspects of their life because of work, which may increase their vulnerability to mental health problems
• When working long hours more than a quarter of employees feel depressed (27%), one third feel anxious (34%), and more than half feel irritable (58%).
• The more hours you spend at work, the more hours outside of work you are likely to spend thinking or worrying about it.
• As a person’s weekly hours increase, so do their feelings of unhappiness.
• Many more women report unhappiness than men (42% of women compared with 29% of men), which is probably a consequence of competing life roles and more pressure to ‘juggle’.  
• Nearly two thirds of employees have experienced a negative effect on their personal life, including lack of personal development, physical and mental health problems, and poor relationships and poor home life.

It is also estimated that stress related sick-leave costs the British industry £370 million each year.  This is about 91 million working days!  !  From a study in 2000 from the Department for Education and Employment survey – 1 in 8 of us were working over 60 hours a week!  This isn’t healthy! (See our article on Burn-out)

Do you relate to the above? Is your work life balance or lack of work life balance affecting your life badly? 

Too many of us carry on with the same routine. Even if we know that it is affecting our health and lives negatively – it can take a long time before we decide to make a change and get back in control of our work-life balance.  It doesn’t have to be this way.  Work takes up such a large proportion of our lives that when it isn’t right it can leave us feeling utterly miserable.  If it doesn’t give us time to do the things that we enjoy then what is the point?  Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate where you are and what you want.   Think about if what you have is really working for you. 

If you want to take action, re-evaluate where you are and make a change – you do not need to do it alone.  You do need to believe that you can do it!  For more information email: enquiries@positionignition.com or contact us via our contact form. Our 100 Career Change Tips eBook also has helpful advice on how to decide whether to change careers.

Related articles:

• 5 Reasons why you hate your job
• Managing burn out effectively
• Is it time to leave or shall I stay?
• Burnt out?
• 5 Signs work is taking over your life

www.positionignition.com

Comments

[Matt Belcher]

Hi,

I think a work life balance is very important. Many people are not happy at work and this affects their life. Also so many of us work too much and not enough time enjoying life.

The facts you gave say it all!

Matt