I recently got news of a former colleague who had suffered a heart attack at work, among several factors obviously, due to constant pressure, lack of sleep and exercise, poor diet and more importantly, lack of balance .
Immediately I tried to contact him and I could not talk, but I could talk to his wife, who gave me reason about his health and told me that "my bro" was fighting for his life in intensive care, for the second time (2nd. heart attack).
Also talked to another colleague who works with this person and in his own words was "Filling in for him at work"
Immediately my mind
started to analyze the situation and very quickly I came to realize three
things:
1. Work-Life Balance is
a really serious topic!2. No one is indispensable, there is always someone else who can "Fill in"
3. In the end only your family will be there when you're defenseless against the outcome of your actions and decisions.
Being a professional in
Operations (Manufacturing, Projects, Logistics, Maintenance, etc.), you quickly
realize that it will be very difficult to properly balance your personal time
with work time.
Without talking down
from the other professional areas, when you are part of an Operational Team,
you are demanded to maintain 24/7 surveillance of all areas and/or groups under
your supervision, meaning that your job doesn´t end when you go home.
There are many reasons,
and based on my own experience those could include:
• Operations are
continuous, therefore no weekends and/or holidays exist.• Operational processes involve a high degree of complexity and cost, so there are many chances that something does not go as planned and that such unexpected thing has an impact on the bottom line.
Anyway, as I said
earlier the reasons could be many, however, and contrary to what those of us
think being part of this area, the balance between who we are and what we do
is very important, so important that one can affect the other positively or in
a very negative way.
In recent years I have
witnessed, being active part and ignored these effects which lead inadvertently
to Divorce, separation, loneliness, sadness and death.But I have also learned that we can always do something about it and that solutions are simpler and more rewarding than we think:
• Food: I was raised in a culture of "eat quickly... on your desk", however when I arrived to Peru I found the culture of "Food is sacred so enjoy", surprise!, yes you can and must respect your lunch time, at that time you are forced to stand up from your desk and walk somewhere to eat, it is also important because it gives you the opportunity to talk and distract yourself, causing your body to generate endorphins (proteins of Happiness), equally important is the quality of what we eat, watch out for this.
• Physical Activity:
critical, because today our lives are designed around sedentarism, creating in
us many health problems that are obvious and not so obvious (obesity, sleep
apnea, circulatory problems, etc.), I usually run several miles, very early in
the morning, every day, but just by walking 20 minutes a day we can achieve
extraordinary results for our health.
• Mental Activity: what
we do at work DOESN’T COUNT, this refers to having a hobby, learn a language or
just learn something new related to your field of expertise (courses, specializations,
etc.).
• Spiritual Activity: at
least once a month take a moment to thank God, Buddha, Prophet Mohammed, etc.,
for all we have, when we give thanks we realize how lucky we are and this makes
us happy.
• Family: as I mentioned
earlier, in the end only your family will be there when you're defenseless
against the outcome of your actions and decisions, I enjoy playing with my
children, help in the kitchen, I don´t cook but I hand her the salt, I
operate the microwave, I try everything she is cooking and give her my opinion,
I must admit I'm not very talkative but I am an extraordinary listener, so this
helps me.
In short, I can not
emphasize enough how important the balance between who we are and what we do
is, I have learned to value it and continue looking for ways to improve it.
Regards,
Armando.
