24 Feb 09 Family Life Versus Career

Life or Career: Which Do You Choose?

Men and women alike run into this question these days. Can someone have a busy, lucrative career and still have that warm, wonderful family life we all desire?

So many professions nowadays can consume all your time if you let them. For instance, a real estate agent is practically on-call day and night. So is a doctor! But most companies have recognized the need to allow their employees to lead normal lives outside the work place.

Recent studies have shown that employees who have strong, secure family lives tend to make more stable employees. They get sick less. They have fewer “family emergencies.” They contribute better in their work environment.

Though the thought that you’re indispensable to your employer can feel good for a while, the euphoria is fleeting as you realize that you haven’t had time to do your laundry. It’s been days since you said more than “hi’ to your kids. Your personal life and your family life begin to suffer and soon you’re asking yourself if it’s worth it.

Whenever we go into a new job, we want to be the best possible employee. We make concessions in our work hours to accommodate the new job because we want to be viewed at a “team player”. But often, if you start out this way, the boss expects this level of commitment throughout your work tenure. If you try to slack off, it can be seen as exactly that: slacking off.

Better to go into a new job with a firm grasp of what’s expected of you. Establishing this from Day One can go a long way toward not winding up in that scenario where you have no life and simply move from one day to the next in a kind of daze.

The hard, cold truth is that most of us spend more time with those people at work than we do with our families. But it’s also true that we make time for the things that are important to us. So it might behoove us to make some coffee and sit down with our spouse one Saturday morning to discuss the handling of weekly chores and errands.

Open lines of communication are important to the health of any family. Know what your spouse and children expect from you. This is a key element in letting your family knows that you are there for them and can be counted on; that you will be an active part of their lives in spite of a busy career.

That genuine effort parents make each week to spend time with their kids and each other pays off in the long run. When other families are crumbling, yours can be strong, healthy and happy. All it takes is a bit of effort on each member’s part. Think of that effort as an investment in your family and your own future happiness.

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Tags: Career, Career Life, Chores, Cold Truth, Concessions, Euphoria, Family, Family Emergencies, Grasp, Home, Laundry, Lucrative Career, New Job, One Saturday, Personal Life, Professions, Real Estate Agent, Saturday Morning, Stable Employees, Team Player, Tenure, Wonderful Family, Work, Work Environment

Filed in Home & Family

24 Feb 09 Family Life Versus Career

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