Interesting Work Life Balance

What is a work - life balance? I’ve worked for various corporations during my career. I’ve worked on huge mega projects and small, complicated ones. On those various projects I remember thinking about the often talked about work and free time. Ten to twelve hours was normal for everyone and I was grinding myself. When I thought about starting a company and working for myself, the thought of being overwhelmed created a great uncertainty and anxiety. Would I be able to keep up?

Then, I quit my job and started my own company. Somehow, someway, I got my first project from the construction company I once worked for. It went smoothly. I was motivated and completed the task: drafting elevations for a project at the Border. I submitted the completed work and I received a check. Although the delivery timeline was compressed which is typical in construction, It still wasn’t enough work to place any real pressure.

Then, I received my second project, a single family house with a detached garage. Although a small project, all the drawings and detailing were created from scratch and I was dealing with a building department that I was not familiar with. It was a lot of work.

Something interesting happened that quelled my apprehensions. There was this intersection where work became life and life was your work. There was this bank of energy that you could tap that drove your interest and motivations. Essentially, when working on a project, your level of interest is the most important factor, if you are interested in the work then you will easily apply energy to it. That is why it is important to take on interesting work.