Work/Life Balance???

photo: babycenter.com

Part of maintaining sanity is the ever-challenging work/life balance. Architects are notorious work-aholics. Fortunately I find myself surrounded by people who are family-oriented and embrace their free time. I'm not saying that I have every weekend and evening free, but for the most part I live a normal life.
I have spent weekends with my husband discovering our city and all it has to offer. We perfect the art of the latte and usually find a movie to rent. I never miss an episode of Barefoot Contessa; Ina is my culinary hero. These days we find ourselves spending every possible moment playing with our son and thinking about what he will be when he grows up...ahem...architect.

My co-workers do home renovation projects, spend time with family, go skiing and hiking and often don't think about work. That's not to say the office is empty when I go in on the weekends. There are a number of people, and you know who you are, that might as well keep a change of clothes at their desk. I've heard that there is a pillow and blanket somewhere in the office for the occasional all-nighter.

"Work/life balance" seems to always be a buzz phrase. Why is that?
 
It is something most people want to achieve, but always find themselves working far more than enjoying life. I remember talking about it in grad school, but found myself more of a workaholic than anything. And I liked it that way! Jobs and school work were my life and my friends were a part of every aspect of those situations. Studio wasn't so much work but many hours of socialization with the perk of creating cool designs. I was a TA and loved it so it didn't feel like work and I was also a barista at Starbucks...I'd hardly call that work.

Now, as an Intern Architect, it's a whole different ball game. Throw in a husband and a newborn baby and I can't even seem to find my way through my sleep-deprived haze to figure out how to distinguish between life and work. I have learned that having a family and working means you're always working! You go from drawing details, to meetings, to cleaning bottles and doing the laundry without even batting an eye. "Rest" is taking care of personal business when you have five minutes after inhaling your lunch before solving the problem of "how do we support this fire wall without anything to put it on?" (true story).

If you don't have a family and rarely see your friends I suggest a vacation. There is a big, beautiful world out there waiting to be discovered, you silly workaholics.

So what is the real solution? I have attended a few seminars on the subject and walked away thinking about how it was sort of ironic that we were in a room talking about living life rather than going out and actually doing it. Oh man, we might be doomed.

There are some amazing role models and supermoms in my office with 3 kids(!!!), so I know it can be done.

I have settled on a personal solution that I need to work more efficiently during the working hours, enjoy my son and husband as much as I can in the evenings and live life to the fullest on the weekend with my tiny family. I'm only two weeks out of maternity leave and already got a project out the door without any meltdowns; I'd say that's a good start.