Topic of the day: Is it better to be a high achiever professionally but have poor spinal health, or
in Lonely Hearts ·
stormygull36 said:I’m not really sure I follow the question.
See, my actual skill level at my job—and, you know, how much money I pull in—isn't really determined by how many hours I spend glued to my desk.
I work in IT, but not for some local firm; I strictly handle US-based clients, and most of the time, I’m just working from home.
So, I make it a point to get up every hour or so to take a quick 5 to 10-minute stroll around the yard with my dogs.
I try to squeeze in those little breaks because, well, that's what the experts say we should be doing. 🙂
And twice a week, I actually head over to the gym during one of my breaks.
Sometimes my workday drags on until about 8:00 PM, but honestly, when you have a healthy work culture, a great salary, and you're actually looking after your physical health, then the answer isn't an unknown choice—it's that I want to find a setup where I can kill it professionally without wrecking my spine.
And trust me, those kinds of workplaces definitely exist.
Unfulfilled dreams 😍
Harold Smith87 said:Your health takes a massive hit when you're stuck in a toxic work environment. You basically lose your will to live, which leads to making terrible decisions—and I guess the first bad call is just not quitting immediately.
Pretty much 🤣
Ashley Vaughn79 said:But I suppose people react to stress differently; what feels overwhelming to one person might just feel like... well, a busy day to someone else. One thing at a time, I guess.
I’d venture to say a lot of it is all in your head.
And how you choose to handle the person causing the stress.
For me, nothing triggers my stress more than that passive-aggressive "hurry up, hurry up, this is urgent!" attitude.
I just can't stand it.
There is no emergency; where have these papers been sitting until now?
I'll let you know when it's done.
Or if my old boss dumped seven tasks on me all at once, I'd probably just walk into her office and ask her to set some priorities and tell me which order to go in.
But honestly, my job is pretty straightforward... you always know the deadlines ahead of time.
No stress there. 😁
Agreed.👍
Ashley Vaughn79 said:I guess there is one story about work-life balance that I will remember for the rest of my life.
It isn't a pleasant memory. 😁
I was pretty new at a job back then, and maybe because I wasn't experienced enough, I kept trying too hard to prove myself professionally. That ended up leading to a massive amount of overtime and working through weekends.
That Saturday was no different.
As luck would have it, my parents had organized a big family dinner back in my hometown, and I fully intended to be there. But by that afternoon, I realized I wouldn't make my train, which meant missing the dinner entirely.
I called my mom to let her know I was stuck at the office, and the conversation basically ended with her saying, "Oh well, don't worry... there will be other dinners." 🙂
Life can be cruel, I suppose, because that actually turned out to be one of our last big family dinners; my mom passed away toward the end of that year.
It was just awful... like something out of a bad movie. 😁
The pay wasn't great either, since the company was struggling financially and my paycheck wasn't even consistently on time. 😁
Staying late didn't do me any favors, and missing that family dinner was even worse.
At least I developed that famous backbone of mine, and over time, I learned how to set boundaries so people couldn't manipulate me with the whole "we have so much work" excuse.
It's not that I'm not responsible—I always try to do my job correctly—but I started looking at why the overtime was piling up and why the stress was happening in the first place. Now, I just push that aside or stand my ground. I might ask, "Where was this data until now if it's such an emergency?" There is no such thing as an emergency if the info was available a week ago; it isn't my fault they dropped it on my desk so late. 🙂
I mean, sure, emergencies happen in extreme cases, but I stopped trying to fix everyone else's mistakes at the companies I worked for.
I take a fairly casual approach now, though I guess it's mostly just a defense mechanism.
I really can't stand companies that reward people just for staying late.
Because if you aren't staying late, they assume you aren't doing anything and aren't a good worker (or so my former colleague used to say).
Actually, it just means you know how to manage your time and finish your tasks in eight hours, whereas they are actually the ones who are incompetent. 😬
But, well... I just won't tolerate it.
Luckily, at my current job, I don't have to.
And I wouldn't go back to working for those massive corporations again... a smaller family-run business would always be my preference.
They are just... warmer. 🙂
Man, there's plenty more to say about that topic. 😁
But then again, I'm more the type who prefers social distance over warmth.