Work/Life Balance

So my blog posting has been slightly infrequent over the last two weeks. I have a personal goal to post three times a week and I am going to do my best to do that from here on out. Which brings me to the topic of the day: work/life balance.

Part of the draw of moving Down Under was the "quality of life" stereotype. I had enough with 80 hour work weeks and truthfully, as I get older, the work-hard/play-hard mentality starts to get a bit old. In Australia, it's more of a work-hard/live-hard mentality but it ain't as relaxing as I once expected or hoped. In fact, suddenly I am inundated with more work than ever (which is extremely exciting but also completely overwhelming).

Statistics show that Aussies actually work harder than anyone else. Say what?

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Australia’s “got some of the longest working hours among full-time employees in OECD countries.” The average working week in Australia among full time employees is 44 hours. And one in five Australians work more than 50 hours a week.

Even though the Aussie’s are working hard, they seem to make the most of their downtime – from a swim in the beach in the morning (which I have yet to do) to sitting outside for a drink after work (which I do regularly), the Aussies know how to relax. I seriously need to take some lessons.

Back to work…..