The Balancing Act. The Job Search/Life Balance

Summer break is well under way with most of our kids out of school and the 4th of July just around the corner. My two teen age boys are bouncing in and out of the house all day, and working out of the home often can be distracting. As when you are working, the work/life balance can be an issue with a lot of people. The competing demands of the job frequently and unfortunately seem to win out more times than not over the home needs. The same can be true during the job search process. The job seeker will struggle with the job search/life balance.

Some people will say that you are lucky to be free during the summer and you should try to enjoy the time off with your family. However, the pressure to find a new job to support your financial needs weighs heavily on you. You may feel guilty while spending time with the family, thinking you should be spending that time job searching. Or the opposite, you feel guilty because you passed up an opportunity to do something fun with family or friends because you felt like you needed to do something related to your job search.

These breaks in your employment history can be sometimes a very rewarding time for many job seekers. You may get to focus on family more, help out with a non-profit, get that house project done, or coach a youth sports team. Sometimes, with your children, they look back on these times with fond memories because dad or mom had more time to do fun stuff with them.

Several years ago, I was out looking for a new job during the summer months. My boys were elementary school aged and our neighborhood has a community pool. Nearly every afternoon I blocked time out of my job search schedule to take them up to the pool in the afternoon. I was able to read some professional books lounging by the pool, and even did some networking while hanging out. Later in the summer my son’s fourth grade soccer team needed a coach. I know as much about soccer as I do about building a rocket. World Cup? Is that the same as a travel cup? I had coached youth basketball, and since they were 4th graders I figured I couldn’t do too much damage, so I went ahead and said yes. It turned out be a fun experience and some of those boys have now moved on to play on their high school soccer teams despite having me as their coach earlier in their development. The other positive outcome of that coaching experience was that I got to know one of the parents better and he lead me to a job opportunity that I eventually landed. It proved to me again that you will never know where those connections may come from.

Frequently job seekers will put their life on hold when they get laid off. While you may not have the financial means to do all the things you used to do, there are still several fun things that can and should be done that are free or inexpensive. Instead of going out to dinner as you used to, pack a picnic and attend one of the free concerts in the park. You will want to take breaks from the daily job search grind, just like you took breaks from work.

Scheduling the time into my day was the key for me to manage the balancing act. I build my job search and networking schedule around the time I planned to spend with my family. I tried to hold that time on my schedule. Sometimes I had to adjust and shift the time around to get on the calendar of someone with whom I was trying to meet. For the most part, I was able to maintain the balance.

This job search/life balance is different for everyone just like it is with work/life balance. I would encourage you look at how you are spending your time and try to build some quality fun time into your schedule. You don’t want to look back and feel guilty about missing out on something.