8 SIGNS THAT YOU ARE WORKING TOO MUCH (MARRIAGE WEEK)- BY ASHLEY WILLIS

Work is a necessary part of life, but like most things, there’s a delicate balance when managing our work hours and home life. If we aren’t intentional with how we manage our time, work will dictate our family life and frustrate, if not harm our marriage.

Nevertheless, we can’t place our jobs before our spouses and kids. Something must give – and it shouldn’t be the family. We must work to live, not live to work. 

If you are reading this and recognize that things are out of balance with your work and family life, self-assessing whether you might be working too much, is an excellent first step. Jobs and family situations will vary, but here are eight signs that you are working too much:

1. You frequently miss family dinners and activities so you can finish your work.

2. You usually deny your spouse a lunch date because you are too busy at work or opt to have a working lunch instead.

3. Most days, you choose to go out with your colleagues after work to “build work relationships” instead of going home to be with your family.

4. Whenever your boss asks you to stay late, work weekends, or take extra work home beyond your general job requirements, you say “yes.”

5. You rarely use vacation time to do something with your spouse and kids.

6. You have never made it clear to your boss that you prioritize your time with your family and aim to complete your work so that you can spend plenty of time with them.

7. You are often too exhausted to talk to your spouse and kids when you get home due to the extended work hours, and you feel like you can never get enough sleep.

8. You avoid going home promptly after work because home life feels awkward due to the lack of time you tend to spend at home.

Friends, if you find that most of these characteristics are true for you, then be willing to do what it takes to reclaim the time with your spouse and kids that have been lost. 

You cannot continue to avoid your family and expect your home life and marriage to thrive. They need you! Sit down with your spouse and discuss what needs to change with your work schedule. 

Please write it down, and be open to making small and significant changes. It might take changing positions and sticking to a more family-friendly plan. 

It might even take taking a pay cut, but your family can do with less of a standard of living if it means having more time with you. 

Let your spouse know that you love them and want to invest in the family more than you have invested in your work.  And then follow through with your actions. You can do this! Your family will improve by leaps and bounds because of it.

Be willing to do what it takes to reclaim the time with your spouse and kids that have been lost.

BLESSINGS

ASHLEY WILLIS