I took a mini vacay from blogging to get a better WORK-LIFE BALANCE! Here’s why…
Hey Guys! Sorry for going MIA for a bit there. It’s almost been one year now since I first decided to start blogging, so I decided to take a mini vacay! Writing this blog has been a whole lot of fun. But there are times where life just takes over and you have to learn how to balance the load in order to maintain a work-life balance!
I started this year with so much energy, ready to throw myself into building my blog following!
(Read that post here). But work suddenly got crazy busy. And it was very difficult to maintain any sort of work-life balance. I was flying almost every hour I was awake. Being called in to fly on my days off and working my butt off doing overtime to pay for a new car (and a washer/dryer) after mine finally packed it in earlier this year. I was struggling to get on top of my finances and contemplating making some tough choices in order to set myself up for the future. (Read more here).
I love my job, but at times it can be very difficult to maintain a healthy work-life balance when you are employed as a Flight Attendant.
Flying up to 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, I was exhausted and beginning to feel myself burning out. Until one night when I returned from work late one night to receive a heartbreaking phone call from my mum. My 99-year-old grandmother had become very ill. We knew her time had come and within two days, she sadly passed away. The grief hit me hard and I immediately knew I needed to take some time out to be with my family.
My job comes with a lot of sacrifices.
Including not being able to fly home to for Christmas and not being able to spend Easter with my family. Working public holidays when everyone else is heading away for the long weekend. Skipping PT sessions at the gym (not because I couldn’t be bothered; if a flight is delayed I have no choice, I’m stuck in the sky!) and not to mention, the countless friend’s birthday parties that I missed out on over the years. Working every weekend can make it hard to maintain a work-life balance.
No matter what you do for work, life is always going to be busy!
Beyond the challenges of your 9-5, there is the pressure to find a partner (or to maintain the relationship you already have!) and to spend time with family and friends. There are hobbies to cram into our busy schedules and holidays to be taken. Adventures in the great outdoors, life-changing moments and memories that will last a lifetime!
But with all of the highlights, there also comes a lot of lows. That’s just life. You can’t be on top of the world all of the time!
So when you feel it all getting on top of you, take a moment to pause and catch your breath. Consider what the most important tasks are and tackle those first so that you don’t get overwhelmed. Learning to maintain a work-life balance helps you to remain level-headed and reduces stress.
You can’t always be everything to everyone. So you must be able to reprioritize what is essential when life takes unexpected turns. You can always pick up where you left off later on. Or even if you veer off course a little, you can always get your back on track. According to the Former US First Lady,
“Women, in particular, need to keep an eye on their physical and mental health, because if we’re scurrying to and from appointments and errands, we don’t have a lot of time to take care of ourselves. We need to do a better job of putting ourselves higher on our own ‘to do’ list.” – Michelle Obama.
The same can also be said for diving into life ‘head first’! New hobbies and friendships or relationships are exciting – and it’s easy to get caught up in them. Sometimes we need to take a step back in order to truly appreciate them.
Taking a break from blogging has re-invigorated my passion for storytelling and I can’t wait to share some new stories with you in my next posts. I hope you are all still with me and enjoying the journey as much as I am!
