The Deal About Work and Relationships
I’m not referring to you going into a relationship with a co-worker, rather, I’m talking about dealing with work schedules that don’t seem to jive and how they affect relationships.
For some, it’s an easy answer — you’ll see each other on the weekends. But what these people may have overlooked is the possibility of other couples having more than one job AND if one or both are still living with their parents [in the Philippines, it's quite common for single individuals to co-habit with immediate families and only separate when they marry].
I, for one, am holding two jobs right now. I have a somewhat regular 9-5 job and I, er, manage online content for three problogs. So, my work load is pretty heavy, to say the least. My typical work schedule on a weekday is go to work by 10am earliest then work for nine hours. After that, I have to allot a minimum of four hours for my work online. Just throw in a cumulative three hours of commute and time for lunch, dinner and toilet breaks in the mesh. AND, of course, there’s sleep.
On weekends, I grab the opportunity to sleep in and when I wake up I work online for 8-10 hours.
It’s a wonder how I can actually manage to keep a relationship because oftentimes I find myself wanting time to stand still so I can squeeze in more work so I can get more done. Gah.
Is proper time management the answer to this dilemma? Most probably. Or do you really have to sacrifice a portion of your time — either you leave off some of the work unfinished or you lose a bit of sleep?
I guess, I’m just thinking out loud and hoping to get some tips on how to resolve this.
Any thoughts?
Tags: compromise, couples, Dating, relationship-stress, relationships, work, work-schedulesRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Answer This, For Couples
4 opinions for The Deal About Work and Relationships
Madalayne
Dec 17, 2006 at 3:47 am
You’re juggling two demanding jobs and a relationship? Yikes. But it sounds like it’s working for you now.
If you decide to throw kids into the mix in the future, something will have to give… but it sounds like you have plenty of time before making that decision.
Date-Tard
Dec 17, 2006 at 10:00 am
I think that you have to give up a little bit of sleep, depending on your schedules. If you dont have matching days off, or one of you is a shift worker, the sleep thing will have to suffer…
Its unfortunate, but if you want to make it work..!
Sasha Manuel
Dec 17, 2006 at 10:20 am
No kids yet, Madalayne. LOL. To think that juggling work and a relationship is already putting a lot of stress on the latter..! I can’t imagine dealing with that kind of responsibility. Gah! Most of the time it’s sleep that’s being sacrificed, unfortunately.
We’re not shift workers, Date-Tard. We work desk jobs but are demanding a lot of time from us and we both work online, too.
It’s a real struggle to MAKE time for one another. Sigh.
Scott Patterson
Apr 10, 2007 at 6:42 pm
Speaking from a compulsive worker…
Sometimes it’s better off to leave the work the work AT work. While this is easy to do when you have a 9 to 5 job, it get’s interesting when you run your own business (like a couple of blogs).
Personally, I try to work in relationship time and make equally as important as that next project :-)
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