Family. Work. Life. And the challenge of finding the ‘right’ balance
If you live in Singapore, it’s common to see people in work suits on the train, on their way back from work, at 11pm!
When I myself was working fulltime, I remember how I would reach home past midnight. And, I’d be back at work in the weekends too.
Not because I wanted to stay back and work for longer hours (I didn’t get ‘overtime’ pay). It’s more because the job ‘required’ me to stay and return in the weekends.
I loved my job. But I realised how it’s not doing any good to me, my health, my social life, and my marriage (the kids were not born yet at the time)
Now that I’m a fulltime mom of two who works from home, I still find myself trying to balance so many things as best as I can.
But the reality is, it’s HARD.
Kids. Housework. Online business. Freelance work. Blogging. Photo shoots. Supporting my hubby’s business. Church ministries. To name a few.
Oh … not to forget, twosome time with hubby AND that time to be quiet by myself, to wind down and relax.
Now.
You see, I love doing what I do … but since we all only have 24 hours in a day, I know I can’t always do ‘everything’. No one can.
So, on some days I tell myself to just accomplish more of A, B and C.
On other days, I do more of D, E and F.
But even then, I find there are still SO many things that need to be done that I have YET to do.
And one thing that I also realise is, in my attempt to juggle everything, I’d usually sacrifice … rest.
Which, I know, is a really BAD idea.
Because when we’re down and sick, we too can’t do much at all, can we?
…
Anyway, I just thought of sharing with you this article.
It was shared by Wilson yesterday and it’s helped me reflect on things.
Here’re some excerpts of the article:
He was a hardworking man who wanted to give his best for his customers at his drycleaning store.
But Tan Ying Rong’s dedication to his job cost him his life as he died from overwork earlier last week.
Mr Tan died from heart exhaustion, possibly caused by overwork, said Lianhe Wanbao.
Click HERE to read the story.
And HERE to read a ‘review’, of the same story, done by another site.
…
The way I see it, … work is important, but we do need rest and leisure too to balance it all.
We need time for ourselves. Time with friends and families.
Our time is limited to just 24 hours a day, and so how we spend it … is crucial.
Do we spend time with our family and friends ? Do we spend most of our time (read: too much time) on Facebook and work, for example?
Anyway.
I’m glad Wilson shared the article with me.
Because I feel once in a while, we do need a reminder or two to bring us all back on the ‘right track’, and to see what’s really important in our life.
And what’s not.
…
What’s your view?
What do you think of Singapore’s lifestyle? How do you balance everything in life? How do you find juggling your roles everyday?
I love to hear from you.
9 Comments »
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izzat aziz :
Thanks for sharing your thoughts ya … True that sometimes what we love to do may not the ‘more important’ thing that deserve our time and attention.
Ing:
It sure is sad to hear about the incident … His family must’ve gotten a big shock too …
I think we all have this struggle, about how we spend our time in the 24 hours we have each day …
Juggling … juggling …
hi Leonny,
I think you are as busy as any mum who holds a 9-5 job. Definitely not easy to be doing so many things. Prioritizing helps and while we are busy chasing dreams and meeting deadlines, it helps to reflect and remind ourselves the things in life that truly matter. I am still learning myself.
Hello! So nice to “meet” you online 🙂 I’m glad I’m not the only mum struggling with this issue of juggling all the balls and finding time for everything. You and I seem to have quite a lot in common in many areas so I’m going to subscribe by RSS and look forward to more of your posts! Blessings!!
it’s true when you said the thing we sacrifice most of the time when we can’t fit everything in our 24 hours is rest. somehow rest just ranks the last in our priority list. thanks for the reminder. but as much as I want to rest, I can’t… unless I quit my job. But quitting my job means I’ll lose my house (can’t even afford to rent if I quit my job). If working during the day, I can’t afford the cost of child care. This situation doesn’t leave me many options. When something needs to be sacrificed, it has to be my rest/sleep time. no parents to help out, no maid/nanny to help out (read: can’t afford to hire maid/nanny). catch 22….
We are actually pretty lucky we stay in singapore.
In japan, hongkong ,korea and many other countries, their work hour are crazier and sometimes they stay overnight in their office or some motels just so that they could get to work on time the next day.
And we do have the luxury of having maids around, but in countries like japan, korea where this domestics maid are rare and so the wife have to juggle everything . And most men in japan dont really participate actively in terms of bonding with their kids.
Everytime i think about other mom whom is having more burden than i am, i do count my blessings and thank god for a wonderful family i have now.
When the kids grow up they wont really want to be sticky with us anymore, so i guess the sacrifice we do now are worth it.
I love the analogy of balls as demands on our time that I recently saw on SquiggleMum’s blog;
http://squigglemum.com/featured-articles/a-juggling-act/
Trying to remember that my glass balls are the most precious and deserve the most of me.
you need to sacrifice some of what you love to do, and focus on very important thing first.. it better that you enjoy yourself and your time 😀
I was about to write a post on how we spend our time too. But you’ve put it across so well.
It is really sad to read the story of Mr Tan. I feel for his wife and kids who are left behind.