How do you balance work and home life? – The Daily Writing prompt inquires.

I’m retired now so this is hindsight. Also, know that I’m no success story at it. But here are a few suggestions/observations.

Know yourself and what you want. Know what your home life needs. Communicate often as things change both at home and at the job. Also, recognize balance may shift from time to time. But don’t let imbalance go on for too long in one direction.

Use your vacation or holidays off the job wisely with your family. Try not to be stupid like I was and take work with you or worse yet, not use it.

Over time professional desires/goals may change. Don’t forget to communicate and include that partner/family significantly in the equation.

Do something special to break from the routine from time to time.

Lots of times both parties are busting their asses and just need a little appreciation from each other along the way but are too busy to see and appreciate it.

Find a way to turn off work when off of work.

Sometimes at different stages in life, different balances will be attempted. Maybe one partner stays home raising children when young while the other works Or as we also did for a while, one works nights and the other days and the child care is tag teamed.

If you have sick time don’t be afraid to take a mental health day if things are getting out of control.

I did work/home life balance poorly in a lot of ways and some successfully. I once turned down a manager role because I knew the hours and stress would be worse for myself and the family.

Usually, I errored on working too hard and too long which of course led to problems. On the other hand, it led to opportunities to improve the family.

Don’t forget, it’s just a job. You can get another one. You might not be able to get another family.

The best balance I had was brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. I was able to work from home full-time for the last few years. The hours of life reclaimed not sitting in a car for double-digit hours a week and avoiding the madness that comes with commuting to one of the worst places in the country as far as traffic.

Best of luck to you all. All I balance now are my hobbies and home life. Most of the time they take place together so it’s a lot easier.

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