Work Life Balance (T-SQL Tuesday #141)

I spent a month tracking every hour of my day. I expected the data to confirm that I was overworked and had no time for anything. It didn't.

Here's the graph. Turns out things weren't nearly as bad as I made them out to be.

Stacked bar chart of daily time allocation over 6 weeks - sleep takes about a third of each day, with work, family, own time, and learning filling the rest

Sleep takes up about a third of each day (no surprise). Work is a consistent block but not the monster I imagined. Family time, learning, and my own time all have their share. The problem wasn't the amount of free time - it was how I felt about it.

While my job is pretty great and I clock off exactly after 8 hours, it doesn't stop there. It's still in the back of my mind.

And SQL is not just my job, it is my hobby as well. I wanted to learn in my free time, experiment, maybe blog about it. But when anything got in the way, I got frustrated. These are my lessons learned that will hopefully help someone else as well.

1. Manage your expectations

I think this is the most important one. I've set too many goals for myself, wanted to overachieve. When anything unplanned happened I fell short of my target and blamed myself. Admit some things are beyond your control and you won't feel as much pressure.

2. Get enough sleep

Sleep is the main way of recharging. If you don't start your day well-rested, it will affect you. I found having a routine helped a lot, but I struggle to keep at it.

As for sleep, maybe try out a white noise generator or dark blinds, a new pillow or mattress - experiment and find out what works for you. It's also good to limit blue light exposure before sleep. I haven't sacrificed my computer/phone time but instead installed the yellow tint which should be easier on the eyes.

3. Take some time off

Some people like watching sports, some like television or games, some scroll endlessly through social media - the point is everyone is different. Allow yourself some rest. Otherwise, you will burn out.

The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted.

— Bertrand Russell (probably)

Looking back at that graph, my time allocation wasn't the real problem. My expectations were. Once I stopped treating every evening as an opportunity to be "productive", things got easier.

Thank you for reading