Monday 6 June 2011

Work Life Balance

Someone needs to figure this out because I just can’t see how it works. Everything that you want to do in Sydney costs a disproportionate amount of money. So in order to do anything you’ve got to have a job and preferably a well-paid job. But in order to keep this well-paid job you have to work so many hours that you don’t have the time to actually do the things you want to do.

I’m pretty lucky, I’ve got a relatively good job that pays okaynand I’m also fortunate enough to make a little extra money from stand up. This should enable me to have a pretty awesome time in Sydney. But it doesn’t actually work that way. Because, like so many others, I’m always so busy or tired from work that I don’t get to do the things I’d like to.

Toady I’m tired because I did get to do something I wanted to. Yesterday I went indoor rock climbing. Which is something that I haven’t done for about 18 months. However I maintain that I wouldn’t feel so physically wrecked from it if I had had more time to go rock climbing for the last 18 months.

This blog isn’t meant to be a complaint. By knowing what’s going on in the rest of the world I’m feeling really lucky to have a job. I’m currently enjoying stand up and the creative process more than I think I ever have before. So I am having a good time, I’m just not getting out very often.

So what happens when we’re stuck at work and can’t get out to do the fun things we’d rather be doing? Quite simply, we spend money on shit we shouldn’t feel we need. We have a long train commute to work so we spend a fortune on an iPad to entertain us while we sit on the train. We have to drive to work every day so we spend way more money on a car because we feel you should have a nice car since we spend so much time in it. Rushing into work for a meeting so you don’t have the time to make your lunch in the morning, no problem, you make good money so you’ll just buy your lunch every day.

Why do people need a massive TV? So they can have that cinema experience at home. Why do people want the cinema experience at home? Because they’re so tired when they come home from work that they don’t want to then go out again to go to the cinema. But if they worked less they wouldn’t be able to afford the over-priced cinema ticket anyway, they’d just sit at home with a small TV.

I’m not sure what the answer is. Maybe we don’t need all of these things. Maybe we should work less and enjoy the company of our friends and family more. Make sacrifices in our careers and devote some time to us. Would we really be any worse off?

I write this blog sitting in a room alone in between editing a sitcom script and working on some stand up that I didn’t have time to write out this week because I was so busy with work. I’m typing on my laptop while simultaneously charging my iPhone and eReader whilst also listening to music on my iPod through noise cancelling headphones. I don’t have all (or any) of the answers and I’m a great big hypocrite. It’s something to think about anyway.

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