Viewing 11 posts - 1 through 11 (of 11 total)
  • Life work balance – anyone actually adjusted theirs?
  • BigBikeBash
    Free Member

    As some may know, I have been V unhappy in my current job. Work is fine, people is fine but it is 5 days a week in Switzerland (Berne, not a nice part).

    This has been scrweing up my life as I miss the family and am sick of the 8 hour commuted each Monday and Friday.

    I spoke to the company I am working with and they were very understanding. My contract is up for renewal at the end of the month and I have a meeting in London in a fortnights time to see if they can think of anything I can do in the UK. The answer is almost certainly no.

    I think I might just have overadjusted the work/life balance slightly.

    Anyone taken a big pay cut for an easier life and feel they have benefited from it?

    ourmaninthenorth
    Full Member

    WCA – you always trike me as a "big decisions" type of chap.

    The key, I have found, is to make gradual adjustments. I went from a life where, though I worked 5 miles from home, there were times when I didn't leave the office for 2+ days, to one where I get to my desk for 9am and am out by 5pm. For (slightly) more money.

    The next stage is turn that into a better balance towards more time and less working, while maintaining an income I consider reasonable.

    Mackem
    Full Member

    Me, went from reasonaby earning IT contractor drone, to ordinary paid, TEFL teacher. All because I like where I'm living. Biggest thing to get used to is having to save up for things and not being able to just buy expensive things on a whim. But, I ride my bike a bit more and work is a lot easier. Sometimes feel like it's a mistake but then I read about people with "careers" being made redundant, dying of stress related illnesses. This year Ive worked more than Ive wanted to but in 10 days I start a 3 month holiday and next school year I'm just going to work two days a week.

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    maxray
    Free Member

    I managed to arrange working 5 days in 4 which has been a great decision for work life balance. By working harder for 4 days I get a day with my daughter just me and her. Good for her/me and oddly work as I am there longer hours those 4 days thus can field calls and react to clients needs outside standard office hours.

    Surf-Mat
    Free Member

    BBB – it doesn't have to be a big pay cut to get a better worklife balance.

    The Mrs and I worked hard in Bristol then London before eventually returning to our "home" county of Cornwall. We are now both running our company and earning better than ever before yet still have plenty of time to look after our little boy, cycle, run, surf, etc, etc – we get very little "official" holiday time but TBH living in Cornwall, you don't need it.

    Do the old "look back at yourself when your 60" thing – will you remember earning well but killing all other aspects of your life, or stuff like your kids learning something new, spending time with the wife, whatever?

    Your situation sounds grim even if your earning sh1tloads – I'd sort it ASAP.

    breatheeasy
    Free Member

    I took about a 20% paycut by going 4 days a week. Means I get the weekend to enjoy life with the kids and get out on the bike, then Mondays is doing the jobs around the house. Really enjoying it.

    Maybe you could consider if they would let you do the same work but maybe reduced hours – would an extra day back in UK make it better for you?

    nicko74
    Full Member

    Can you work from home one day a week? So you get 3 days at home (incl weekend), 4 days in Switzerland?

    oldgit
    Free Member

    Sort of. I'm having the toughest year of my life financially in the hope I can be so well sorted in seven months time that I can give up my business and just get a job that pays me pocket money. Being self employed is pretty hard work, six days a week, five days a year annual holiday, calls day and night it's not worth it unless the rewards are great which in reccession times aren't and that's two now.
    I might not make it and I'll have to keep working, but it's worth a bash.

    shooterman
    Full Member

    I am just about to do so. Going from a nightmare job paying 48k to a government job paying 38k (plus pension) so I can relax a bit more and spend more time with the kids.

    alexxx
    Free Member

    I've worked this out so far in the quickest and most stressful / random / fun head mess up time ever

    I went from finishing uni straight into a job in the film industry, losing my very serious misses of 2 years because of it, having long stressful days with some rays of light, powering threw it all and over winter, got to a breaking point of going 3 days a week, introduced myself to self employed last week, now leaving my job and being fully self employed.

    my plan now this year is to enjoy life, sell my car and unneeded posessions, get a mid top transit van, take my bikes with me around europe and the uk, working at places i pass by with handyman live off the land jobs and websites from a laptop in my van.

    this isnt going to happen straight away as im paying rent on a house with 2 other wicked mates but its going to be a good mix of this and contract design work and technician jobs till next march, then I AM doing a full season around europe and not having a comeback date.

    bliss!

    Im 23 next month, all seems pretty hardcore to me but I had a job in my gap year of uni getting 25k and even then I knew 9-5 office politics isnt for me, I cant take the stress and lack of control, I'd have a 15k job any day if I wanted to go to it in the morning.

    ChrisF
    Free Member

    I've taken a different angle on the work/life balance thing recently.
    We have two young children and very busy lives, and found we were just dragging ourselves through weekends, doing chores, taxiing the children round and not getting a whole lot from it. So we took a decision to get away camping at weekends as often as we could, filling up our spare time with fun stuff as much as possible, doing things we enjoy and that the kids will (hopefully) look back on with happy memories. It seems to be working so far.

    Job wise – I'm contracting (structural engineer) so have to make the most of it whilst work is there. I get to work between 6:30 and 7:00am, leave around 5, which means I get time to see the kids in the evening and can leave early on a Friday to pick the children up from school.

    Added to that I decided to have a go at road racing this year which means a commitment to training hard when possible (lots of late night turbo sessions in the winter), and have taken on the role of chair of governors at a local school which is pretty demanding too…

    So the work life balance has been improved, but mainly by squeezing more 'life' into the spaces between other things. Sleep… who needs sleep eh?

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