Not since I was a checkout chick and then a waitress, have I had a job where I clocked on and clocked off. I often envy people who do. Because the jobs I’ve had have always bled into my non-work life. Now that I’m working with my husband in a small business that is open 24/7 well…..there ARE no lines between work and home. How about you?
More than 20 per cent of Australian workers spend 50 hours or more a week at work and 60 per cent do not take regular holidays. A typical full-time worker performs more than 70 minutes of unpaid overtime a day and Australians have stockpiled more than $33.3 billion in leave, the equivalent to 123 million days.
A survey of 10,000 people to be released this week reveals Australians are becoming increasingly unhappy with their work-life balance.
The Australian Work Life Index, having tracked work-life balance for four years, found a growing number of workers believed extra hours spent at work were interfering with daily life.
Women and those who worked long hours showed the poorest outcomes in the study, conducted by the University of South Australia.
The study found two-thirds of women working full time and half of all the men said they were frequently rushed and pressed for time. Seven out of 10 working mothers reported almost always feeling rushed and under pressure.
Top Comments
Mia you have such a way with words! I love your description ‘bled into my non-work life.’
To help stop this bleeding and a great tool for people is to ‘book end’ their days. This means have a routine to signify the start of a day. For at home business people, I always suggest a shower and get dressed as if you were going to the office and do this the same time every day.
At the end of the day, regardless of where you work, have a routine to signify the end of the day. If you took just 15 minutes to collect your thoughts at the end of the day in a quiet place, it could mean when you leave work you LEAVE work!
But it will take practice and discipline.
Wow - I'm inspired by everyone here who wrote of their wonderful work/life balance. I need to make a change. I take work all far too seriously. Currently I work between 40-50 hours a week (only get paid for 35), and am also studying so another 10 or so hours a week. Plus I spend about 15 hours a week commuting .. sigh... Its not good. I get stressed. I'm constantly tired. I sometimes want to make a change and find a 9 to 5 job where where the clock ticks off I go! When Tony Abbott said he wanted to raise the retirement age to 70 I almost cried. I can't keep this up - and I don't intend to - I'm trying to save a home deposit and have a bub! I don't know why our work culture is like this. Its just an expectation that there is so much to get done and not enough people to do it. I have friends in Europe and Scandinavia and when they visit they simply don't understand why Australians work the way we do. It is just not done over there. But then when I am feeling really down about work I think that I'm not as bad off as some of my friends in the corporate world (whilst I'm in govt) and many of them are doing many more hours than me. I don't know how they do it.