Balancing Work and Family
Balancing Work and Family: Taking a Look at Yourself
Deb Gebeke, Family Science Specialist
NDSU Extension Service
Are You Beginning to Burn Out?
Do you come home from work physically or emotionally drained, with little energy left for your family? Do you find it difficult to get out of bed every day knowing that you face an overwhelming workload?
Do you suffer from headaches, backaches, digestive upsets, fatigue or exhaustion that can be traced to your problems at work? Are you drinking too much coffee, smoking too many cigarettes, eating too much or unable to fall asleep at night due to work-related anxiety?
Do you feel like you're always behind schedule or wish you could just quit your job? Have major changes, such as layoffs and reorganization, taken place where you work?
If so, you may be among tens of millions of people in the United States who suffer from job and family-related stress, a problem that's far more common than either workers or employers have previously realized.
A lot of people are bowing out of the rat race—or at least contemplating it. Time magazine, in the article "The Simple Life," touts the return to basic values and the joys of home life as a "revolution in progress" and a major shift in America's private agenda.
After the rampant materialism of the '80s, many people are realizing that what matters is having time for family and friends, rest and recreation, good deeds and spirituality. For some people that means a radical step: changing one's career, living on less, or packing up and moving to a quieter place. For others it can mean something as subtle as choosing a cheaper brand of running shoes or leaving work a little earlier to watch the kids in a soccer game.
Most people must consider the financial consequences of work and family trade-offs. But even if there is no choice about whether or not to work, we can choose to select an employer who is sensitive to issues important in balancing work and family. We can also
Deb Gebeke, Family Science Specialist
NDSU Extension Service
Are You Beginning to Burn Out?
Do you come home from work physically or emotionally drained, with little energy left for your family? Do you find it difficult to get out of bed every day knowing that you face an overwhelming workload?
Do you suffer from headaches, backaches, digestive upsets, fatigue or exhaustion that can be traced to your problems at work? Are you drinking too much coffee, smoking too many cigarettes, eating too much or unable to fall asleep at night due to work-related anxiety?
Do you feel like you're always behind schedule or wish you could just quit your job? Have major changes, such as layoffs and reorganization, taken place where you work?
If so, you may be among tens of millions of people in the United States who suffer from job and family-related stress, a problem that's far more common than either workers or employers have previously realized.
A lot of people are bowing out of the rat race—or at least contemplating it. Time magazine, in the article "The Simple Life," touts the return to basic values and the joys of home life as a "revolution in progress" and a major shift in America's private agenda.
After the rampant materialism of the '80s, many people are realizing that what matters is having time for family and friends, rest and recreation, good deeds and spirituality. For some people that means a radical step: changing one's career, living on less, or packing up and moving to a quieter place. For others it can mean something as subtle as choosing a cheaper brand of running shoes or leaving work a little earlier to watch the kids in a soccer game.
Most people must consider the financial consequences of work and family trade-offs. But even if there is no choice about whether or not to work, we can choose to select an employer who is sensitive to issues important in balancing work and family. We can also