It was a late afternoon on Saturday when I received a call from my old friend. 
She tells me that she wants out and wants to get a new job. When I asked her what kind of job? She told me “anything but here!”
I really do understand her frustration about her current job. It’s a tormenting 12 hours a day and six (6) days a week. Yes! You read it right. Six days a week. I just can imagine how painful it is for her not having that WLB (Work-Life-Balance).
Just think of this. She will wake up like 5AM to prepare herself and breakfast for her family. Travel for about a 2 hours while getting jammed up with millions of people in one train! You literally would smell, feel, and worst – even share the awful smell of someone who forgets totally their hygiene.
By the time she arrives at her place of work, she has to take care of everything and make sure that it is 100% operational. Should there be any problems would arise, she would have to make all the necessary measures in accordance with the guidelines.
Within the day, she would have to deal with all sorts of problems, from customers to co-workers. On top of that, her local phone would ring and her bosses would be all over her asking for reports. Report’s were told a minute ago and tells her that it’s very urgent and should be on top priority. Well knowing the boss, everything else should be prioritized and with urgency. She would not even get a simple pat-on-the-back or a small note of commendation in completing the process. Instead these bosses will grab all the credit and let their bosses knows that they are done with their job.
End of the day, she has to make sure everything is balanced to the last item. All of the staff was able to comply with their task with integrity still intact with them. She has to be the last person to leave of course.
Arriving at home late, she would see her children all asleep. Her husbands arrived an hour earlier than her. Her husband works a complete 9 hour job. She now computes if she was able to take home the bacon. Not even close sad to say.
There are a lot of people like my friend here who wanted to get out of the painstaking job but could not do it. Why? She could not afford it because it is so hard to find a decent job these days.
So why did she accepted the job? All the sugar coatings were given to her. She did not even see why the company offered her a high salary. She might have overlooked the fact that this company will give everything but will get everything from her as well.
Why am I saying this? I came from the same company.
Well that is beside the fact of what I would like to brought up. What I would like to brought up is this, how will we be contended with our jobs? The answer: Never!
You heard me, NEVER! An employee will never be able to get contentment with their job because for a fact that people who does the same thing for so many years will not be happy. Unless a person will find a way to balance their: professional career and their personal life.
Simple being said but its really hard being done.
In my personal experience with the same company as my friend works for now, I know how hard it is working for them. At first when I was given the salary and the opportunity for the advancement of my career, I was so thankful. I was even surprised that they gave those kinds of benefits and opportunities. But as the days and months pass by, the reality starts to sink in. Of course a company would never give anything without getting any return.
Then I realized, I am not able to balance my life. My career was stagnant and my personal life has been totally forgotten. I consulted my friends, family and even peers of what I should do. One thing in common that they told me, get out and find another one.
I was not getting any younger as I have told to myself. I do not want to go back to square one and start all over again. But my mind keeps telling me get out this is not for you!
And so I made my decision, I quit! I left the company and seek another one. Then it started my career as a job hopper.
So up until now I am a job hopper. I am new in the company that I work for now. It pays me well, it gives me career. I can even see myself having more of what I think of. But deep inside me, it tells me this is not for me. Why? I am now working on a graveyard shift. The one thing I never thought it would happen. I started with this job on a normal day shift. Now here I am adjusting my body working at night. I start to ponder where is the WLB in this kind of job?
I am still an employee. I have to abide by the rules of the company. If I want to have that WLB, I should adjust my life.
What I did was to look at the other side of the coin. When I started working on the grave yard shift, I was thinking that how will I ever get a time with my family. Working on a graveyard shift gave me an edge. Now I can be with my family the whole day! I adjusted my sleep which is important to regenerate my body. I go home early and once home I sleep while they are still asleep. When they start to wake up, I wake up as well and have breakfast with them. Lucky for me my shift starts at 8PM and ends at 5AM. I get to get home at 530AM and sleep until 9AM where my wife now starts to prepare herself to get to work.
I appreciated my job now because, not like my friend, I still get to see my wife and kid during the day. On weekends, we go out and spend each others time so well.
Am I contented with my job? The answer is still NO! But when you look at your family the time you go home, everything else does not matter anymore.
She tells me that she wants out and wants to get a new job. When I asked her what kind of job? She told me “anything but here!”I really do understand her frustration about her current job. It’s a tormenting 12 hours a day and six (6) days a week. Yes! You read it right. Six days a week. I just can imagine how painful it is for her not having that WLB (Work-Life-Balance).
Just think of this. She will wake up like 5AM to prepare herself and breakfast for her family. Travel for about a 2 hours while getting jammed up with millions of people in one train! You literally would smell, feel, and worst – even share the awful smell of someone who forgets totally their hygiene.
By the time she arrives at her place of work, she has to take care of everything and make sure that it is 100% operational. Should there be any problems would arise, she would have to make all the necessary measures in accordance with the guidelines.
Within the day, she would have to deal with all sorts of problems, from customers to co-workers. On top of that, her local phone would ring and her bosses would be all over her asking for reports. Report’s were told a minute ago and tells her that it’s very urgent and should be on top priority. Well knowing the boss, everything else should be prioritized and with urgency. She would not even get a simple pat-on-the-back or a small note of commendation in completing the process. Instead these bosses will grab all the credit and let their bosses knows that they are done with their job.
End of the day, she has to make sure everything is balanced to the last item. All of the staff was able to comply with their task with integrity still intact with them. She has to be the last person to leave of course.
Arriving at home late, she would see her children all asleep. Her husbands arrived an hour earlier than her. Her husband works a complete 9 hour job. She now computes if she was able to take home the bacon. Not even close sad to say.
There are a lot of people like my friend here who wanted to get out of the painstaking job but could not do it. Why? She could not afford it because it is so hard to find a decent job these days.
So why did she accepted the job? All the sugar coatings were given to her. She did not even see why the company offered her a high salary. She might have overlooked the fact that this company will give everything but will get everything from her as well.
Why am I saying this? I came from the same company.
Well that is beside the fact of what I would like to brought up. What I would like to brought up is this, how will we be contended with our jobs? The answer: Never!
You heard me, NEVER! An employee will never be able to get contentment with their job because for a fact that people who does the same thing for so many years will not be happy. Unless a person will find a way to balance their: professional career and their personal life.
Simple being said but its really hard being done.
In my personal experience with the same company as my friend works for now, I know how hard it is working for them. At first when I was given the salary and the opportunity for the advancement of my career, I was so thankful. I was even surprised that they gave those kinds of benefits and opportunities. But as the days and months pass by, the reality starts to sink in. Of course a company would never give anything without getting any return.
Then I realized, I am not able to balance my life. My career was stagnant and my personal life has been totally forgotten. I consulted my friends, family and even peers of what I should do. One thing in common that they told me, get out and find another one.
I was not getting any younger as I have told to myself. I do not want to go back to square one and start all over again. But my mind keeps telling me get out this is not for you!
And so I made my decision, I quit! I left the company and seek another one. Then it started my career as a job hopper.
So up until now I am a job hopper. I am new in the company that I work for now. It pays me well, it gives me career. I can even see myself having more of what I think of. But deep inside me, it tells me this is not for me. Why? I am now working on a graveyard shift. The one thing I never thought it would happen. I started with this job on a normal day shift. Now here I am adjusting my body working at night. I start to ponder where is the WLB in this kind of job?
I am still an employee. I have to abide by the rules of the company. If I want to have that WLB, I should adjust my life.
What I did was to look at the other side of the coin. When I started working on the grave yard shift, I was thinking that how will I ever get a time with my family. Working on a graveyard shift gave me an edge. Now I can be with my family the whole day! I adjusted my sleep which is important to regenerate my body. I go home early and once home I sleep while they are still asleep. When they start to wake up, I wake up as well and have breakfast with them. Lucky for me my shift starts at 8PM and ends at 5AM. I get to get home at 530AM and sleep until 9AM where my wife now starts to prepare herself to get to work.
I appreciated my job now because, not like my friend, I still get to see my wife and kid during the day. On weekends, we go out and spend each others time so well.
Am I contented with my job? The answer is still NO! But when you look at your family the time you go home, everything else does not matter anymore.
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