Balancing Home and Work life

Hi All.

First of all sorry but this is going to be a semi serious post.

 

I’ve noticed a bit of a trend it work. When ever something big is going on in my personal life the hours at work go mental.

 

Just before Gem and I got married I got assigned to a project which had to be done and out of the door in two months. The 3 or 4 weeks up to the wedding I was doing 45 to 50 hour weeks, one night I was in till 10 in the evening and back in again at 8 the next morning.

 

Now the babies about to come along I’ve now been assigned some work which has some really tight deadlines but I feel like I’m neglecting Gem a bit.

 

The project has to get done, (the extent of what actually needs doing keeps changing and widening which isn’t helping). If I was single I’d probably be putting in 10 or 12 hour days but I don’t feel I can do that now. It’s not fair on Gem as she’s board enough as it is being stuck at home on her own.

 

Once the baby comes along how do I cope with this situation? I read that when the babies about 2 they should get about 13 to 14 hours of sleep a night meaning that she’d probably go to bed about 7 in the evening. If I’m having to work long hours then I’ll never see the little one and I don’t want to be that sort of dad.

 

One of the managers at work has a really depressing idiom He says, “Week days are for work, weekends are for family.”. This seems really sad to me.

 

On the other hand I do what to progress in my career and it does seem like the higher you get in the company the more hours you do.

 

It goes with out saying that my Family and Gem come first but how do I strike the balance? I get on really well with my line manager so it’s probably something I’ll bring up in my next appraisal.

 

Anyone any ideas?

Any advice gratefully received. Feel free to leave comments or drop me a mail.

 

That’s it for now.

Take care.

Nick.