Work Hard, Play Hard: The Reality

How often do you see job postings for a workplace that boasts about a culture of “Work hard, play hard”. They are everywhere nowadays and I was lucky enough to work for one. I thought I had it, that balance of a great challenge, hard work and having fun. Then work got busier and busier, and it hit me: “OMG, I’m just working hard, when do I get to play?”

At that time, I did nothing but wake up, get dressed, go to work, work all day, maybe eat lunch, maybe not, drive home, eat and go straight back to bed.

Weekends, the time where I thought I was going to get everything done (chores, seeing friends, finishing that book my naturopath gave me that I started 5 months ago) seem to fly by and I felt like I had accomplished nothing.

With all that said, I still loved working for the company, it was a fun work environment. But I had no time to do anything but work. Keep in mind, I’m also a workaholic, I have to attribute some of that obsessive work behaviour to what I’ll call my “condition”.

For those of you thinking I’m about to tell you how to find that perfect balance, that secret nobody has shared yet, let me stop you there. I haven’t figured it out, nor do I know if I ever will. My life is still just as much a mess as anyone.

What I’d like to share with you, is what I gained from the freedom handed to me when I lost my job.

I previously wrote about that unexpected, overwhelming, almost audible internal sigh I let out when I was pulled into a room and told there was no longer a job for me. In that moment, I got my time back. It was like a gift, one I was more grateful for than any other.

When I got home I wrote out a list of things I really wanted to do, that I hadn’t found time for while I had a job. Here’s some of what I actually accomplished:

• Screen Writing Class
• Blogging Workshop
• A juice cleanse
• Cooked my first meat loaf
• Slumber party with Grandma
• First ever facial
• Sent out Thank You cards
• Read a book in 3 days
• Napped, regularly
• Visited the Aquarium for the first time
• Started liking beets by eating more of them
• Made the time to listen to and get to know what’s happening in my friends lives
• Grew a Christmas tree (a fake one you buy at Indigo, with paper and “magic water” it was sparkly, I loved it)
• Spent an afternoon helping someone else
• Ate out alone multiple times
• Started watching Making a Murderer
• Applied for a course that starts in the spring
• Made a website
• Started a blog

As I write this list, a little grin is growing on my face. To me, that’s a lot of things to accomplish in a month.

So what did I gain?

I stepped out of my comfort zone, spent a lot of time doing things on my own, doing things for others. I found myself to be much kinder, more considerate, more patient and compassionate. I’m more motivated and feel less guilt when I sit down to binge watch something on Netflix, because I know I’ve checked off something from that ever growing list of; I hope to one day… I wish I had the time to… I really wanna…

I did something that was not required of me, but something I had wanted to do some day and made it happen that day.

I don’t know if I will ever be able to find a balance of work vs life. When I’m committed to something, I’m in it completely. A friend said something to me today and I’m going to use it to finish. The gist: your job, the actual work that you do and get paid for, will never be upset that you didn’t spend enough quality time with it.

See you all next week!

#WrittenByAWorkaholic

My inspiration for this weeks’ blog was a podcast by Nick and Bret from Where There’s Smoke, entitled You Say You Want a Resolution (Willpower). They discuss why it can be so hard to achieve your goals and how to adapt your willpower to become a motivator. Where There’s Smoke was recommended by my sister and up on this weeks’ #WrittenWednesday.