It is vital to maintain a balance between your personal and professional lives so that you can give your all in both realms, however some professions make the balance a little bit more difficult.
5 Professions That Have the Worst Work-Life Balance
By Kate Harveston
Commercial Pilot
The thought of traveling the world for work can be a romantic possibility. But many commercial pilots dread being assigned to overseas jaunts. That’s because they’ll spend four days flying, resting and flying back, only to return feeling exhausted and unable to live a healthy home life.
There is some good news here: some commercial pilots can adjust their schedules so that they’re not on the road for days on end. Instead, they fly local routes that allow them a more normal home life — dinners at home, weekends with the kids, etc. That lifestyle, of course, means they have to give up on that dream of flying around the world and getting paid for it.
Angelina Jolie Piloting Plane, Vogue
Lawyer
You probably guessed this one, too: life as a lawyer is high pressure most of the time. Clients have high expectations of the workload their legal team will be able to handle. Plus, you have a billable hours quota that you’ll have to achieve by working more than the average office hours. To that end, many lawyers are paid hourly, which means they make their extra-large salaries by working overtime.
You could still be a lawyer and preserve a bit of your personal life. Start by choosing a specialty that’s relatively less stressful than the rest. Overseeing divorce proceedings might not bring in as much money, for example, but it will be far less of a time commitment than other specializations.
Lawyer
Journalist
If the past few years have taught us anything, it’s that news happens around the clock. Headline stories wait for neither woman nor man — when there’s a big story, journalists have to drop everything, write the story and put it to press ASAP.
But that’s not all with which the journalist has to deal. For starters, their salaries are notoriously low, which does little to warrant the never-ending hours. Plus, staring at the computer all day long strains your vision, so your eyesight could suffer over time.
5 Professions That Have the Worst Work-Life Balance
Surgeon
Let’s start somewhere you’d probably suspect: the medical field. As a surgeon, you’ll likely specialize in a specific area or set of procedures. That means you’ll likely be on call a lot, which means you can’t really stray too far from the hospital — you’ll never know when duty calls.
Of course, those who have become surgeons often find their choice to result in an incredibly rewarding career. Not only that, but they also earn quite a hefty paycheck, which could help rectify the amount of time spent roaming hospital corridors and surgical theaters.
Surgeon
Retail Sales
Have you ever rushed to the stores on Christmas Eve to pick up a last-minute gift? Or have you woken up at 4 a.m. to shop on Black Friday? It’s one thing to head to the stores as a patron on these days, but imagine what it’s like for the retail staff — they’re expected to work on days when the rest of the world is free.
The retail schedule makes a work-life balance challenging to find: while your family gathers to celebrate holidays, you’ll be required to work or show face early the next day. This applies to both sales associates and managers — the hours are a huge commitment, so you’ll have to love fashion and merchandising to make it work.
Finding Your Balance
For some, work is life, and they love it that way. Their career is their passion, and there’s no better feeling than that when you find it. However, there’s something to be said about a vocation that gives you the chance to lead both professional and personal lives. You just might find your happiness is in this balance, rather than in an intense career. The choice is yours — and the joy will follow.
-GG
Kate Harveston is an online journalist who covers everything from health and beauty to culture and politics. Find more of her writing here at Global Glam or here
9 comments
I have heard that pharmacist have a really hard balance also with trying to keep people happy and dealing with someone “misplacing” their prescription or dealing with angry people needing their fix. Thank you for sharing this post!
I used to work very long hours until I realized that I am wasting precious time (and years!) on all the wrong things. So now I am more conscious of saying no and spending more time with the people that matter.
Even a regular day job can cause a hard balance. My husband’s job moved locations and he was spending about 3 hours in the car every day. That’s when he quit to work from home. It’s still tough some days to balance our work schedules with spending time with our kids and each other.
Some of these jobs would definitely make having a family more complicated. I think this is true in lots of different jobs though. Finding balance is crucial.
I’ve worked retail and it isn’t fun, especially at the holidays. Work life balance is so important, but I think we go through seasons of needing to work hard and needing to rest.
Work life balance is so important. The last 2 years I have really focused in on making sure it is a priority.
All the careers you listed are definitely very special. Especially people who work in the medical field. Word life balance is defintely a must.
I’m a blogger, mom and doctor and have terrible work/life balance! One of my goals for this year is more self love and better balance.
I’ve worked in retail for years and it really can be a struggle with the hours, These days there’s barely a day where we’re shut.