Work-life balance. What does that even mean? It surely can't mean that there would be an equal distribution of time spent on work activities and personal activities because unless you are Super Mom, Super Employee and Super Annoying, I just can't fathom that achieving this is anything beyond a miracle. Plus, let's face it, who wants to spend the same amount of time on both. If I had it my way I would spend my days lying on a beach, sipping cocktails while I listened to the giggles of my husband and daughter while they built sandcastles next to me. Work wouldn't be a factor in my ideal work-life balance equation. BUT the reality is that I wouldn't be able to do any of the things that I love (including vacation with my family to this tropical paradise I wish I was in today) without actually working and bringing home some bacon. Plus, I kind of like my job. Don't get me wrong, if I won the lottery tomorrow it would be hasta la vista (in my best Arnold voice) and I'd hit the ground running, but since I've been told that my chances of being struck by lightning are greater than winning the lotto (plus I'd have to actually play to win) I won't hold my breath that I will become a multimillionaire anytime soon. So while I wait for my winning lottery numbers to be picked I need to figure out how to do this whole work-life balance thing. I thought I had a pretty good balance before Baby G was born but looking back on it I really don't think it was balanced fairly at all. I produce my best work when under pressure and have tight timelines and since my job can be done from almost anywhere I tended to put in my 'normal' daytime hours and then go home and work more. At times I was working every night and on the weekends and I still never felt like I was caught up. My husband rarely complained but at one point he did ask if we could have a night that we could watch TV together that I didn't have my computer on my lap. Looking back on it, I don't think that was a fair balance at all. Not fair to him anyway.
Then I went on maternity leave. I took off 3 weeks before G was born. I thought I would get bored at home but by that point in my pregnancy I was tiring pretty quickly and still trying to wrap up last minute things in the house and nursery before I went into labor. I would run a few errands, take a nap, put away any new items I had purchased that day and then start dinner before my husband would get home from work. I got into a pretty good routine and never got bored once. Baby G arrived on 8/2/11 and I was fortunate to be able to stay home with her for 3 months. My husband was home for the first 7 weeks after she was born and just as we started to get into a good balance he went back to work. I spent the last the last 5 weeks of leave at home with G by myself and just as I thought I was getting into another decent routine (aka being able to take a daily shower) I had to prepare to go by to work. I have been back at work since the beginning of November and even though I have managed to keep up my daily showering (thank god!) I now have to figure out how to juggle many, many more activities. My daily schedule roughly looks like this; get up at 6a, nurse G, do hair & make-up, load the car and head to the sitter, one hour after I leave my house I arrive at work (roughly 8:30a), work until 5ish and pick up G, arrive at home one hour after I left the office (6p), nurse G, start dinner, bathe G at 7:15p, eat dinner, nurse again, put G to bed by 8:30p, make bottles, pack the diaper bag, shower, blow dry hair, in bed around 10:30p. Lather, rinse, repeat. At almost 5 months old my daughter still nurses for 45-60 minutes every time so if you were actually paying attention to the timeline above you will notice that there isn't much time for anything else. My husband is usually stuck doing anything that doesn't fit into this timeline (grocery shopping, dinner dishes, trash, bottle washing, etc.) I barely have time to eat my own dinner.
SO, how in the hell are you supposed to have a balanced home life let alone a work-life balance? Since I've been back to work I have spent 6 days away on 3 different business trips. Coordination of these was nothing short of a miracle. Thank god for my husband and my mom for helping out tremendously. My workload is insane but nothing I haven't been capable of handling in the past. The difference now is that I am unable to do any work at home, AT ALL. I've tried. Most would think that's a good thing but when you can't possibly get into the office any earlier or stay any later, when do you catch up? Do you know how many times I have tried to write this single blog post over the last 4 days?!? My co-worker says "You will never be able to get everything done. Something always has to give and you just have to rotate what it is so you don't go insane".
Pandora just cued my exit with Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain". It must be a sign. My husband will be checking me into the nearest Looney Bin before the end of FY12.
