that’s just my work and I need to remember that..
Our lives are made up of many little things and work is just a part of it. Also included in the list are family, hobbies, friends, finances and all those knick knacks we love. Most of us work for a living and that takes up good 8 hours of our day, every 5-6 days of a week. But should that take over our life?
No.
Ask yourself, if you –
- spend time with yourself?
- have time to do what you like to do?
- know when to stop and when to stretch.
- sleep well at night knowing that you did all things right.
- helped someone feel better about themselves.
- challenged your own self and became a better version of you.
- are who you want to be – not by what you do but how you do.
Life is too short to just carry on with your job. Do your best in the time that you invest at work and for the rest of the time of your day, invest in yourself.
Some reflections and food for thought for #MicroblogMondays today. Also linking up with Mackenzie Glanville – reflectionsfromme.

You know Parul, I needed to read this today. Work holds utmost importance for me in my life. So much that even if I have grave issues, I cannot stop thinking about missing work. I’ve thought time and again that this is just a part of my life and not my whole life, but I always go back to it like a moth to a flame.
I’ll try to de-addict myself from work now. For my own sanity, I have to.
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I also love my work and that’s such an important part of my life but I tell myself that it’s just a part and not more than that. Addiction of any form is not good. Isn’t it? 🙂
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This is such a great post, I have recently stepped back a little from work and it is making such a difference to my home time. I just need to take work emails off my phone now ha! Thank you for this reminder xx #mg
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Glad you were able to relate to this. Thanks Lisa.
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Definitely! Sometimes people act like if you don’t have kids, you don’t need time for family/personal life. But we still all need time for ourselves and the people we love.
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We need time for ourselves all the time. Whether we are parents or not. Me-time luckily comes with no condition.
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And on the long run we miss this only that spending time with yourself is so important.
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So true, Anindya.
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These are all good points. Our jobs do not make us who we are. #mg
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In some ways, they do but not entirely. Thanks Lucy!
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Hello Parul, it’s definitely always good to be reminded that work is not everything. I had a crisis a couple of years ago when my work (which I don’t enjoy) started to feel like it was taking up about 80% of my waking hours. When you’re full-time, five days a week it can be very hard to make sure that the time outside of work is equal to or better than the time spent at work. People said to me “just make sure that your life outside of work is amazing” but I felt that I had no life outside of work – I seemed to ALWAYS be in the office. I was also comparing myself to women who had families who could say “my work might be awful, but I’m doing for my children”. So I reduced my hours to 4 days a week, and it was the best thing I ever did. It now feels properly balanced. I also started the blog, which revolutionised things for me (giving me something meaningful to do and a distraction). People without children need time off as much as people with children, I definitely don’t think that is a widely accepted idea in the workplace. I had to justify my reduction in hours with explanations like I’m doing a course, I’m depressed, etc etc. But next time I apply for it (and fingers crossed it will be renewed), I’m going to just say ‘personal reasons’. I would recommend reducing the hours to anyone who is feeling their job doesn’t satisfy them, it’s the best thing I ever did.
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I am happy that the change worked for you and that’s what is most important. To know what you want and to do what you want 🙂 hugs!
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Aye, we must sort out our priorities. Work and personal life has a balance, one shouldn’t dominate over the other. Well said.
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We should. Thanks Darshana!
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This is such a great reminder. And I’m going to take a stretch right now.
It’s helpful periodically to check that the way I’m spending my time is in line with my values and priorities.
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We should always know that and be ready for a stretch. 🙂
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It certainly is a juggling act Paul. It helps to keep work and family life even-steven by practicing balancing tricks, fire-spinning, and general circus skills. When juggling, using heirloom knick knacks we love, is ill-advised unless they were given to you by your ex-wife’s meddling mother.
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I am very happy reading this. My next 2 posts are both on what you’ve mentioned (already waiting in draft), and they would end my 2016 🙂
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Looking forward to read those two posts, Alok. Thank you!
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Definitely. I think you have to build it into your day.
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True that!
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Excellent, simple advice – I just wish I could come up with a simple way to follow it! Thanks for the reminder, Parul! 😀
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Thank you Traci! The simple way to follow is to just follow it 🙂
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Wise words, Parul.
And I love the way you ended it, ‘Do your best in the time that you invest at work and for the rest of the time of your day, invest in yourself. ‘
Very important point.
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I’ve been without work for a few years, and that gets me down a bit. But I’m loving the rest of my life, so though it would be good (and is kinda necessary) to have work, I’m not sure I have time! lol
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Highly tempted to answer these:
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Oh so true, we need this time, everything is so face paced and we need to slow down and find time for us #mg
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Those are some great tips for workaholics but I am glad I am not. I cannot be happy that way. Weekends for me are almost no-work days. I must say its also no-blog days as of now. Though, I don’t write but only collect ideas for the posts. Thanks for sharing Parul.
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