Challenge of the work-life balance

But is work trul y fuliilling us, and ar what cost?

In our frenetically-paced world , we are h eari n g many reports about i ncreasing stress levels, heald1 mishaps at younger ages, and burn- out.

The result, coo often, is that migran t Indian families are working hard to liv e not only the Australian dream, but als o to give their fam.iJies the opporcuniries which are on offer over here. All dlis takes its toll

Seeing 27-year-o ld S imon Sheikh, Director of GetUp A u stralia collapse on nacional televisi on was somew hat confronting. A pa nellist on J\BC's Q &A, Sheikh slumped over d1e rable while reaching for a glass of wate r He came to a few seco n d s later, and was e sco rted off rhe set to hospi tal. Ir was confirmed L-ite r that he was fine, and that the incident was a result of the Au 7 irus bur probabl y also exhaustion after burning the candle from both ends

Worki n g too hard is poss ib ly something that a lor of us are guilty of. A recent sm vey on work practices rev e aled d1ar Australian s are working l ong er hours than ever before, and longer hours drn.n people in many other countr ies.

Advancements in te d mo logy now allow us to be " at work" at al l hours of the day \Xfork is increas ingly invading our per sonal lives, and we are often in work- mode even at o ff-duty hours.

Po r m igrant p o pulati ons Like o ur own community, the pressure is often doubled The challenge of settling into d1e new adopted co untry comes wid1 i ts own stresses, especially in d1e early years There are new skills chat have to be learned fair!)' quickl y off rhe mar ka nd these might be different for men, women and children. The self-imposed pressure to succeed is also high, so that d 1ey can finall y claim to have "arriv ed". The necessary famil y and social support which d1ey are accustomed to back home, is lacking as well , ad d ing furt her to demands on the individual.

Particular ly vulnerable are profess ionals w ith a young famiJ y While mum and dad settle into their new working Life, wodcing Jong hours to make ends meet, they also wish to expose their children to me opporcunities available in Australia. The wide variety of activities in spore, music, creati \, e endeavours, even d1e "hot h o usin g" option s, excites them.

One o ther additi o nal burd en which the Indiau Australians love to rake on, is owning die famil y home. But financia l constraints and the desire for a large home rakes chem ro suburbs which may not have the best transport Links. Typicall y, they disregard the ease of transport betwee n work and home, and end up spending long h o urs in the commute, wllich adds to d1eir alread y long days. Perhaps, some practicality and sacrifice here could well assist in long- term health issues.

Perhaps it is time we learm co negotiate a good work -life balance Our cultur al heritage conditions us to focus o n tomo r row. But balanci ng th is with living in the moment can add more to our health and happiness Quality time with family, restfuJ weekends, bolida )' s, hobb ies, all need to become more o f a priority

The grave yards, iris said, are filled wi d1 people who mough t things could not g o on wid1our them.