They say “if you give them an inch, they will take a mile.” This is something that can be applied to many aspects of life. For me, I have felt this often in my career and have struggled greatly with finding a good work/life balance. When the work/life balance tips the scales, so does one’s mental health.
Throughout my 17-year career in the newspaper world, I have been told on numerous occasions that journalists shouldn’t be afforded time off. They have been direct to indirect comments, but all seem to sting.
The demands of some occupations can require extra hours. But, that doesn’t mean those in those careers don’t deserve a family life. When they try to set boundaries or restrictions to allow for family or even personal time, they are ridiculed for not being dedicated to their work.
When I first began this career, I worked until the wee hours of the morning, trying to get all the things covered/included in the weekly edition. I remember our print deadline changing from 10 a.m. to 4 a.m. on Tuesdays. I would set my alarm for 2:30 a.m. to check my email and re-work any pages needed to include those late emails. Our deadline later changed to Monday evenings and those early morning hours changed.
Our deadlines have continued to move up over the years and we have had to make changes to accommodate to them. We now go to print on Mondays at 1 p.m.; which means all but 2 pages of the weekly edition have to be done by Sunday evening. Thus requiring yours truly to work the majority of Sundays. I thought that by moving our deadline to Thursdays at noon that I would be able to complete pages by Fridays and enjoy a full weekend off. This has yet to happen. The computer travels with me on family trips, girls weekends and even holidays. My family and close friends are use to driving me places so I can work, or know that gatherings will include me writing, editing photos, page setting or simply responding to messages.
Setting boundaries to allow for a work/life balance has been a struggle, especially in a world of instant gratification. I am expected to be at all the things, respond to messages at all hours of the night or get ridiculed for not being available. Just for context, this Friday, messages continued well past our 4 p.m. closing time, with the last one coming in a little after 10 p.m. Work messages resumed at 12:22 a.m. on Saturday morning. These aren’t emails... these are messages to me personally, through my text or social media.
Recently, I decided that the later was better for my well-being than missing out on family events and have items that have been delayed or simply held for later weeks. Sometimes, time and space in the weekly edition are my biggest opponents. Many weeks, I put in well over a 45-hour work week and time still isn’t available to cover all the things. I can’t keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I must put myself and my family before work. This may mean that items are delayed or not covered as quickly as some might like. I appreciate our readers who value my time and mental health. Burn out is a real thing, and it is something I hope to avoid.
Robin Wunderlich
Quote of the Week “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow” by Helen Keller.
