Work-Life Balance: a constant Seesaw

Years ago, in my life, I was balancing on the work-life see-saw, trying to keep the balance…
I set some priorities, when what was important to me in life.
On the one hand, work - improving, proving, building a career, and on the other hand, life - family, friends, rest and enjoyment.
And at some point I concluded.
I work to live, I don't live to work
When you reach a business goal in life, at a job that you are satisfied with, at activities that keep your attention, and at the same time you earn a monthly income sufficient for the needs of you and your family, conclude, enough is enough.
I don't have to give more than that.
I don't have to prove myself and accept the "generous offer of the employer" for additional tasks that would threaten my free time.
Sometimes it is necessary to apply a hard brake to stop the heated work that is bearing down on you.
The relationship between your work-life balance should also interest your employer, because if you are burdened with business activities so much that they interfere with your private life and take away your free time, it will threaten your motivation and loyalty to the company...

In the last 5 years, even before corona, I pressed that brake to the floor.
If I don't have any plans in my free time, I'd rather be interested in, for example, reading interesting posts from friends from Hive, than looking at the reports and tables I look at 5x8 hours every week.

I remember one situation that was a turning point in my case.
My superior asked me on Friday at 2:00 p.m. when I could submit the report, which will take me half a day to prepare.
I asked him if it was OK to deliver the report to him in 4 hours. He was happy and told me "Great, it fits", not knowing about the "cold shower" he would get a few seconds later.
"Excellent, I am preparing a report and will deliver it on Monday at 10am".
"What do you mean Monday?".
"Well, nice. Friday, 3:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m., Monday 9:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m. You have a report on your desk in 4 hours of my working time."
He looked at me in amazement, until I told him: "Today after work, at 4 pm, I'm leaving for some organized gathering, and I'm going home on Sunday after midnight, I won't have a minute of my free time to work".
I think he understood then what my attitude was and that in very rare situations I would disturb the work-life balance.

Not to be exclusive, I never say no, when it comes to some urgent situations, we are here to get involved online, but I'm happiest when my laptop is folded over the weekend (and weekday afternoon).

A lot of upheaval in the work-life balance was brought about by a change in the setting of working from home. When working from home, that balance is very difficult to maintain, because it is difficult to separate work from daily activities...

I am against working from home.

In the home where I live: I cook, sleep, watch TV, listen to music, hang out, cry, drink, make love...
In my home, in addition to everything I mentioned, it's not OK for me to work either.

In addition to this, there is also a social aspect, as one of my colleagues would say: "Even us introverts sometimes have a desire to see another person, to put on beautiful make-up, dress up and spend time with others...".

Thank you for stopping by my post and I hope you enjoyed the photos and the story I shared with you

All photos are my property, taken with a mobile phone