Work Life Balance: All Work and No Play …

I’m sure most people have seen the 1980 film by Stanley Kubrick entitled, The Shining. The story, written by Stephen King, is a psychological thriller about a writer who takes his family to an isolated hotel to be the caretaker in the off season. It will also give Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) some much need time to work on his writing.

At one point in the movie Jack’s wife stumbles across his manuscript which is comprised of line after line of this sentence, All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Well you can guess what happens next and the insanity begins.

Here’s the point:

Sometimes in our striving to be successful we lose site of those things that bring a sense of balance to our lives. We push ourselves to continuously do more, accomplish more, or be more yet we never take the time to occasionally pull the plug on our “work brains”  so we can recharge the batteries.

A mentor of mine used to say if you don’t stop occasionally to put gas in the car eventually you’ll run out of gas and you’ll be stranded.

10 Signs You Might Need To Stop And Put Gas In The Car:

1. You’re family is crying when you come home from work … not when you leave for work.
2. You would rather work late than go home to be with your partner, spouse, or kids.
3. You’re family is going on vacation … without you!
4. You wake up at 2:30 AM and decide you need to send an email to clarify some point you made to someone earlier in the day.
5. You wake up at 2:30 AM and decide you need to send an email to ANY one for ANY reason.
6. You have so much vacation time built up that you could literally take 3 months off and not skip a paycheck.
7. You walk in the house one day after work and your spouse asks “Who Are You?” And then you realize your in the wrong house!
8. You come back from a long business trip with a Teddy Bear for your little boy and you find him upstairs in the bathroom … shaving!
9. You have this sudden desire to start typing “All work and no play makes Jack, Tony, Bob or any other name a dull boy (girl)!
10. You come home from work one day and find that your family has moved out … when you track them down they tell you that they moved out … two weeks ago!

Okay so maybe you chuckled a bit and on a more serious note … you will be far more productive over the work year if you pause to fill up your tank and give the engine a rest. Besides their is no job, position, title, or amount of money, that can replace the your family especially your kids. Sad thing is some people never get this until they lose them (physically or emotionally).

Providing for your family is half of the equation … being with them to enjoy it is the other half of the equation … Stay Balanced!