A Resounding and Vehement NO
NO, my life is not my work (unless, from some sheer luck, my dream came true and I'm able to build and run my own animal sanctuary).
NO, work does not always come first. It comes first during work hours and almost always the following few hours after work but thank you, I have a life to which I would like to return to at a reasonable time every day.
My former boss had told me before, she used to expect her staff to stay late and complete their work by hook or by crook coz her reasoning was "If I can do it, so can you." And it was true, during the critical periods where we had to stay till the wee hours of the morning to complete our testing, and when we had to work in shifts to get the testing done, she was there throughout the entire time. And she with 2 kids and a hubby, no less.
But recently, she shared that she has now changed and come to accept that her staff have lives of their own and no longer expect them to work their butts off to get something done coz "work will always be there."
When I was working in the States, the latest I'd worked was until 9.30pm, and that was only for one day. Throughout my 1 year with that company, I'd only had to work late ONE day. By 6pm, the building is almost deserted. Ppl leave their work, finished or unfinished, to go home to their families and loved ones. If something was not completed today (unintentionally, of course), they would understand and not give u a hard time for not completing it. Maybe it was coz the place where I was living in at that time was in the outskirts of the city and not in downtown proper. But still... it was a pleasant experience.
Imagine the culture shock when I returned to M'sia!
Had lunch with a GM once and he remarked "Here, if you come in to work early and leave work late, it's expected of you and no one will notice. But man, if u ever leave early, every pair of eyes will be fixed on ur back when u leave the office."
See, life is short. There're so many things that each of us wishes to accomplish in our lives and those who have career as a priority, by all means, go ahead and reach for the stars. Career ambitions are great, for some. But there are also others who appreciate other things in life aside from work. As with all other things, there's got to be a balance and equilibrium somewhere.
I, for one, do not wish to work like a dog and waking up one day, a wrinkly 40-year-old with stress lines all over my face, asking myself "Wat the hell have I been doing with my life all these years???"
NO, work does not always come first. It comes first during work hours and almost always the following few hours after work but thank you, I have a life to which I would like to return to at a reasonable time every day.
My former boss had told me before, she used to expect her staff to stay late and complete their work by hook or by crook coz her reasoning was "If I can do it, so can you." And it was true, during the critical periods where we had to stay till the wee hours of the morning to complete our testing, and when we had to work in shifts to get the testing done, she was there throughout the entire time. And she with 2 kids and a hubby, no less.
But recently, she shared that she has now changed and come to accept that her staff have lives of their own and no longer expect them to work their butts off to get something done coz "work will always be there."
When I was working in the States, the latest I'd worked was until 9.30pm, and that was only for one day. Throughout my 1 year with that company, I'd only had to work late ONE day. By 6pm, the building is almost deserted. Ppl leave their work, finished or unfinished, to go home to their families and loved ones. If something was not completed today (unintentionally, of course), they would understand and not give u a hard time for not completing it. Maybe it was coz the place where I was living in at that time was in the outskirts of the city and not in downtown proper. But still... it was a pleasant experience.
Imagine the culture shock when I returned to M'sia!
Had lunch with a GM once and he remarked "Here, if you come in to work early and leave work late, it's expected of you and no one will notice. But man, if u ever leave early, every pair of eyes will be fixed on ur back when u leave the office."
See, life is short. There're so many things that each of us wishes to accomplish in our lives and those who have career as a priority, by all means, go ahead and reach for the stars. Career ambitions are great, for some. But there are also others who appreciate other things in life aside from work. As with all other things, there's got to be a balance and equilibrium somewhere.
I, for one, do not wish to work like a dog and waking up one day, a wrinkly 40-year-old with stress lines all over my face, asking myself "Wat the hell have I been doing with my life all these years???"
posted by Ai Ling at
Monday, August 28, 2006
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