Technology was supposed to increase leisure time, presumably freeing us to spend more time with our families and less on the job. But technological progress seems to have brought us more things to do and less time in which to do them.
Flextime, which allows people the flexibility to schedule work time around family time, has been a major help in balancing family and work. Flextime, for example, might enable an employee to work 90% of a normal week for 90% of the pay.
This could be enough to allow a parent to spend time with children after school. Flextime could also mean taking every other Friday off or working from home one day a week. Flextime is especially helpful for double-duty mothers or fathers who frequently are victims of role overload. Life for them can be a daily grind of cooking and cleaning, supervising homework, driving children to school, looking after elderly parents, and running endless errands in addition to earning a living.
We’re living now in the age of burn-out, in which workaholics pursue frenetic lifestyles that hog their time, drain their resources, and leave them empty and unfulfilled.
Many people engage in activity for activity’s sake, burying themselves in work or play to avoid facing real personal and spiritual needs.
Others are in love with money, and seek to express that love by spending all their waking hours pursuing their careers.
But truly successful people know that balance is essential to achievement, and they make room for quality time for family, spiritual interests, sports, and hobbies.
When you create balance in your life, you create a whole new life experience, one that has the power to take you to a whole new level of fulfillment and gratitude for life. However, achieving this continues to remain a juggling act!