Work-Life Balance

TUC figures tell us that over 5 million of the UK workforce, regularly work unpaid “overtime”, rewarding their employers with a total of £23 billion a year in free labour.

On the one hand, this can be viewed as great news for business, demonstrating what a dedicated country we are and dispelling the myth that we are a nation of clock watchers. On the other hand, slipping into a pattern of working long hours is not always simply down to commitment and fulfilment but can be attributed to habit, a lack of knowledge of employment law or just the silent pressure of an employer who is happy to generate a culture of manipulation based on “it’s the way we do things around here”.

There is substantial evidence to support the view that regularly working long hours is bad for our health, impacts negatively on relationships and family life, creates childcare issues and leads to burn out, meaning that individuals are left with no inner resources to draw from. Very few of us can sustain working ‘in the zone’ for the duration of one working day and yet many of us attempt this every extended working day! People who work from home work even longer hours unable to draw the line between work and home.

If this strikes a chord with you, take the opportunity now to step off the treadmill for a moment and really reflect on your own work-life balance with the help of 10 Good Reasons to Work Your Proper Hours list and come up with 10 good reasons of your own to make that change and another 10 on how you’re going to get started this Target Tuesday to achieve the right balance between work and life.

1. You deserve to be rewarded fairly for any work you do.
2. Deep down you know that ‘working smarter not harder’ really does make sense!
3. You want to be a positive role model for your family and colleagues.
4. Because you DO have a choice! By working an extended day everyday, you are silently communicating that this is ok with you.
5. Your children don’t believe you can really cook!
6. You will never be glad you spent more time at work than with your family
7. You’ve got a life or need to get one!
8. You’ll come back to work more refreshed the next day.
9. It’s ages since you caught ‘BluePeter’ on T.V!
10. You value yourself enough.

So, go on, take the opportunity to leave work on time and start developing a habit that is good for your health!