Importance of Good Worklife Balance

Received this interesting mail from one of my colleague, it is called :

["Going home – just to sleep" Letter from Gilbert Goh Keow Wah]

After reading through, I find that it is more than just going home to sleep but also about the importance of Good Worklife Balance. It is also the fact of todays life. Below are the full texts :

DURING a recent outing with some friends, a common topic we discussed was job stress and how to de-stress effectively. Some said that perhaps due to a booming economy, we have become victims of our own success.

Much more is now demanded of us in terms of workload and efficiency. Our meritocratic society is a merciless one and those who do not make the cut will have to pay the price.

One friend mentioned that she doubles up as personal assistant to her manager, in addition to her main job as a receptionist. The office assigned her dual duties following the resignation of the personal assistant.

All this was done in the name of multi-tasking, but without any increase in salary. She is now on the lookout for another job.

Another friend mentioned that he has to de-stress every day after he gets home from work. Officially he is supposed to leave at 6pm, but he usually cannot do so until 8pm and reaches home an hour later.

He learns meditation and uses it nightly at home to relieve work stress. After that, he is left with only about an hour to spend with his family. Facing a burnout from work, he is reconsidering his career options at the company he has worked in for the past five years.

As our economy steams ahead, with Singapore having the lowest unemployment levels in years, let us spare a thought for those who toil to complete their tasks, often spending 10 hours or more at the office.

Many professionals I know spend their days labouring over their work and only go home to sleep. They hardly have time left to pursue other things in life.

The point I want to make is that corporations who implement a balanced work environment tend to have a smaller turnover, saving huge chunks for recruitment and training of new staff.

With a good work-life balance, there will also be fewer cases of sick leave. Unless we continue to actively promote this balance, we are likely to have a grumpy workforce and this could affect our productivity in the long run.