By Trina

Recently, a few posts on Brazen Careerist about work-life balance have caught my attention.  Many people have strong opinions on the matter.  Jake on Jobs is of the “work now, play later” mindset.  He says, “…Work/Life balance is not something 20-somethings should be worried about.  Instead, my suggestion is to work your butt off until you find a job that doesn’t feel like work.” Whereas Jenny Blake talks about looking at your overall quality of life, “…part of the reason I was feeling so tired was that I let work completely take over my life…the more I let things that energize me fall out of my routine, the more tired I become, and the less able I am to perform high-quality work.”  My stance: I don’t think you can get to a place where it doesn’t feel like work unless you have a good quality of life.  In other words, good personal life is complementary to good work life.

Many of us millennials are focusing our twenties on our careers, and I am definitely one of them.  I push myself at work and am looking to grow myself in my free time.  I have designed my lifestyle to be conducive to work my buns off (I wish that were literal…): I live alone, I am far away from my family, I’m educated, I’m single, I have an open schedule and I dress for success every single day (I truly love the way I look in a suit).  However, I’ve realized that focusing my twenties only on work is no way to live.

The job my company gave me in rural Rhode Island (a place I really didn’t want to be living) was a total wrong fit for me, and I felt my life was hollow.  Work was a mess, and I didn’t have much of a personal life.  I bought 4 (yes, 4) books off Amazon about having a quarter-life crisis and tried desperately to find happiness.  When I finally got transferred to a better job in Dallas (significant upgrade), I vowed that I was going to be happier.  My first priority was to work hard and finally have some success at my job.  I found my groove at work, and the client loved me.  Although it felt good, I wasn’t wholly satisfied.  That was when I decided to shift the focus of my twenties from my career to “me” with career being an integral part of the package.

My free time is precious, and I decided that I needed to use it to treat myself more often.  My logic: if I do things once in a while that make me genuinely happy, I will feel more balanced and more sane; thus, I will become a better worker bee and nicer human being.  Here are some of the things that I do to treat myself: 

• Exercise - It was the first thing that I put back on the schedule. I put it high on the list, and I have felt healthier since. Stress was making me sick and tired all the time, and exercise helps to even that out. Bonus: no pills needed.
• Calling my family - When I have a free moment, I like to call my parents, my grandma or my brother’s family. Hearing my two-year-old niece’s voice or hearing about my Grandma’s busy social calendar always brightens my spirit.
• Wandering aimlessly around the grocery store - My dad and I used to go the store a lot when I was a little kid, and I love to do it now. It may be a bit weird to others, but I can stare at food for hours.
• Taking a bath - Again I revert to childhood happiness items: the bath tub. I have always been a water-loving creature and taking a bath is the business. You can read, play with toys and do some serious thinking. Fact: Alan Greenspan did some of his best work in the tub.
• Jigsaw puzzles - A bit nerdy, yes. I love ‘em though. They are mentally stimulating (have to keep that photographic memory running) and tons of fun. To me, there is nothing better than a pot of strong coffee and a jigsaw puzzle.
• Cooking - I love opening a bottle of wine and whipping up a delicious meal. You’ve got to eat anyways, so why not make it an enjoyable experience?
• Watching The Soup on E! - Joel McHale catches me up on all the ridiculous TV that I don’t have time to watch. Oh, and it’s is absolutely hilarious. It’s reality show clip time!!!

I think the right approach to your twenties is to figure out what makes you happy.  When you are a happy person, it will reflect in your work.  Since I’ve made an effort to use my free time to treat myself with my favorite activities, I have been performing better at work and getting closer to happy.  Someday my life will have a very different focus and knowing how to keep sane will be a great benefit.