The Fun Balance

Work life balance is a state we professionals want to achieve.  A topic we often come across in trainings provided by our company.  It is mistaken to be too ideal instead of an attainable goal.  It will not make you superhuman once achieved but it rather requires our out most discipline and time management to maintain it.

When I thought of it further, it would be great if I can share things that I’ve learned during the course of my career.   Then, I wondered if I’m credible to provide these insights.  I asked myself if 8 years of working as an IT professional is enough to gain wisdom and impart it to those who are just starting in their careers and to those who I look up to and are ahead of me.  In reality it is not, but I believe I have bumped into one or two things that helped me achieve a sense of work and life balance.

The picture above describes what work life balance is, which is all about having fun. As I watched this man and his group of friends take turns on going through their mini-obstacle, I realized that this is somewhat similar to our lives.  Life is full obstacles no doubt and this does not deviate from the obstacles we face in our life at work.

Oftentimes we are presented with daunting tasks and we stress ourselves thinking that it is too much. We forget what brought us through during those sleepless nights in college, why we chose our fi eld of expertise and what we used to be when we had a burning desire to prove ourselves at work.

Delight is often forgotten when we are consumed by things in our life. Work will not be tiresome if we delight on what we do. Dragging ourselves out of bed and coming early in the office will not be a problem if we find something delightful to look forward in our work.  One can ask: how can I fuel myself to enjoy things at work? I say to you that there are lots of things in the office that you can have joy with.  It can be your coworker that you have fun talking and working with.  It can be your boss that shares with and mentors you.  It can be new things you learn. A nifty way of doing
a C# code, a satisfi ed customer, a fast and accurate fulfilment of a customer concern, an involvement in improving your team’s process, a simple tap on the back by a colleague saying you are doing good job.

These are just things that we can enumerate and use to satisfy our thirst for joy in work.  I would like to end by saying that in whatever you do, put your heart into it.  It really makes a difference if there is happiness, love and passion in what you do. It sustains and affects the people around you. It reflects in your whole being and you’ll learn to appreciate the beauty of life.