July 9, 2014 - Written by: Beth Teverson

Working to live or living to work?

I’ve been employed full time (albeit in various places) for about 5 months now.

After working full time in a bar all I wanted was to work 9-5, every week-day and have my evenings and weekends free. And don’t get me wrong – it’s good: I have two days to myself, to do whatever I want and I know all my friends are the same.

But working for a variety of companies with a variety of people, I have seen in the world of work there seem to be two types of people:

Those that work to live and those that live to work.

So what’s the difference?

Well, when I was working in a recruitment agency it became pretty clear these people -and I myself – lived for the weekend.

So boring and unvaried was our work that there was literally nothing else to keep us sane. Come Friday it was a feeling of pure elation – two days off – A WHOLE TWO DAYS OFF. But then Monday would come along.

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I remember when I was a student I used to love Mondays: start of a new week: I was going to get everything sorted and organised. But Mondays became a figure of dread. The pause just before you walk in the office, remembering the feeling you had at 5pm on the Friday: it never felt so far away. You walk in begrudgingly, heading straight for your desk you turn on your computer and sigh. All you can think is ‘Why does this company own so much of my time?’

Unfortunately it’s the reality of a working, adult life.

How many people are in jobs they hate? In companies they don’t believe in?

But with an unstable economy and huge unemployment rate – should we feel lucky we have a job at all?

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Many people have come to the decision that this is how they want to live their life, and it suits them. Works a drag but you’ve got stability, routine and that Friday feeling.

And what of those whose job is their life? What about those that live to work? I now work at television Production Company. The editors get a pretty hefty salary but for the hours , well… They’ll work 8-6:30 – maybe sometimes longer. Then some of them will have to work over the weekends, just to get the projects done on time, as well as the separate projects they do in their own spare time.

‘It’s no wonder people end up marrying each other here,’ said one them ‘I don’t know how they’d see their families otherwise.’

And it seems to be a running theme these days if you want to progress. How can we be successful and still have a life of our own?

As the Victorian era saw the industrial revolution many predicted that soon machines would be the grafters, working days would be cut in half and future generations would all become an increasingly intelligent population since we had so much time for reading and art.

Technically they weren’t wrong. Machines are working the world yet we work more hours than ever.

Finding Balance is key.

I cycle to work now so I leave the house at 7:30 and I get home usually around 5:45. That’s about 11 hours of my day that I dedicate to my job. It feels like a lot of time but it has taught to appreciate the time I do have. Saturday night I got home from a friend’s birthday, pretty dam drunk. However instead of going to bed I found myself thinking:

‘I’ve only got so much time before Monday. I need to make the most of it. I’m going to listen to some awesome music and get some shit done.’

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I hung out my washing, I cleaned my room, I danced around like a pro (honestly my moves were the bomb) and I was really happy – because I was living in the moment. Appreciating every second I had to myself. And it was the same last weekend and the weekend before.

Working a lot sucks. But finding those moments are key. Either that or find a job that you love – which I think we all will eventually if we don’t leave our dreams behind – but for the time being: live in the moment.

If you enjoyed this article, why not check out ‘Didn’t get the job? Keep Calm and Carry On‘?