People ask me every week what my plans are after grad school. I've started thinking about my life and my job. My job has become my life. I love what I do, don't get me wrong. But I am realizing it's not healthy to be at the office every weekend or staying late four nights/week. I am okay with it doing that once in awhile when absolutely necessary.
I have a different take on it than others I work with. To some people, they feel compelled to tell people how early they come into the office every day and how they're going to be in the office working all weekend.
I get my work done in a timely manner that doesn't call for me to be in the office on the weekends or checking my work email every hour. That's NOT NORMAL! Too many people in my field get sucked into their jobs and don't have a life of their own. In my office alone, I know five people who have gotten divorced (and I've only been here for a little over 5 years!).
I'm telling you, it has a lot to do with our work ethic today. To a lot of people, "good" work ethic means we should work 60+ hours/week and spent little time with your spouse/family. Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture???
People in Europe are a good example of what Americans should be more like. They take long lunches, leave work early, and take more holidays (vacations). They are LIVING their lives, while we are getting gray hair and wrinkles by the time we are 30! No wonder Europeans are so much better looking than us! Americans are so stressed, anxious and high maintenance when it comes to work stuff. Yuck!
Here are some pieces of advice for Americans who choose to move to Europe (source):
- Don't brag to other people about how hard you work. If you go up to someone in Europe and say "I work 10 hours a day, six days a week, 51 weeks a year. Look how much I achieve!" you'll get the same reaction you would in America if you said "I wash my hands exactly 169 times a day. Look how clean they are! Look! Look!!!"
- Learn your environment. Take into account how much work you can really expect from Europeans. Don't expect anything to get done in August, don't expect a response to your email the same day. If you really need to get in touch with someone while they are on vacation, or on the weekend, you won't be able to. Which means not that they are being irresponsible. It means you don't really need to get in touch with them.
So....after grad school, my plan is to go back to the old me....when I was 24 and would get drinks with friends after work (on a WORK NIGHT, OMW!) and have regular girls nights every month. My goal: leave work at work and have more fun in my personal life. Heck! HAVE a personal life again. This summer, I will be spending more time outside, at the beach and having BBQs than wasting away inside worrying about reports and schedules. More time for vacations - even little day trips. Life is about living, not working.
