Our job is important and part of what defines you as who you are. However, in order to be truly successful in life, you need to be balanced. After fifteen years in the Information Technology industry, I have learned a few lessons that have helped me maintain my sanity at work.
Your job is important and part of what defines you as who you are. However, in order to be truly successful in life you need to be balanced. After fifteen years in the Information Technology industry, I have learned a few lessons that have helped me maintain my sanity at work.

Hobbies
Key for me has always been to have hobbies and interests out side of work. It doesn't matter what you do, but you need time away from your work, time away from your family and time that is strictly yours for enjoyment. This blog for example is one of my new hobbies and a way to stretch my mind. For others it might be some board game or even something like Geocaching (Ties into the active life I talk about below). Without hobbies, or at least a time to decompress, I feel that by the end of the week I'm dead and no use to my family all weekend long.

Family
Put family first... This doesn't mean to be a clock watcher at work, but make sure that you leave your work at work and make time for your family. I have kids and I make sure I'm there for supper almost every night. Make sure that you spend time with your wife, husband, significant other (And watching TV doesn't count). My life overall runs a lot better when I make sure I give time to my wife and kids.

Active life
This is my #1. If I don't run, play soccer, rock climb or do something active, I tend to be grumpy and irritable. This is the way I deal with my stress, this is not only something that makes me feel good, but it means that when I'm at work, I can focus on work.

Take time a few times a week, look at what is offered in your area and go for it. If you can't find anything, consider running. Running is easy to get started and cheap... You can also do it anywhere in the world. I've traveled quite a bit in life and running is something that you can do no matter where you are (Sometimes it can be hard to find the motivation when its below -25C and you need the right gear, but you still can do it).

Time for personal reflection
Personal reflection means that I take time for myself, make sure my life is where I want it to be, and if it isn't, to think about how I can get it to where I need it to be. I know this sounds cliche, but we only have one life to live and I feel like I'd better not waste mine. I love my work, my family and the experiences I have had in my life and taking the time to reflect makes me feel like all those goals I haven't reached yet are attainable if I stay focused and on course.

你的工作很重要，它是你所扮演的角色定義的一部分。但是，要想真正取得成功，你需要平衡你的生活。在信息技術行業工作十五年之后，我學到了一些經驗，幫助我保持工作中的理智。

愛好

工作之余的愛好和興趣對我來說很重要。做什么并不重要，關鍵是你擁有完全屬于自己享受的時間，不去想工作和家庭。舉個例子，這個博客就是我的新愛好之一，用來表達自己的想法。還有一些游戲或甚至像Geocaching（我下面將談到的戶外運動）。沒有愛好，或者解壓的時間，我想在周末時我已經精疲力盡，沒有什么可以帶給家人。

家庭

把家庭放在首位……這并不是指工作時一味想著回家的時間，但一定要抽出時間給家人。我有孩子，我幾乎每天都和他們一起吃晚餐。記得多陪陪你的妻子、丈夫和其他重要家人（僅看電視是不行的）。我只要有時間和妻子孩子在一起，我的生活總體感覺還不錯。

戶外運動

這是我的最愛。如果我不跑步、踢足球、攀巖或其它運動，我的脾氣就會很暴躁。這是我舒緩壓力的方式，這并不只是讓我感覺良好，而且讓我能集中精力工作。

一周幾次，就近取材。如果找不到合適的，考慮跑步。跑步不擇場地，且成本不高，可是在世界上任何地方隨時開始。我一生中旅行過很多次，跑步是不論在任何地方都能做到的（當氣溫低于25攝氏度時你會覺得沒有動力，但是你還是可以做的）。

個人反思的時間

個人反思意味著我為自己花時間來確保生活是按照我想要的方式運行的。如不是，想想怎樣才能達到我的目標。我知道這聽著很老套，但是我們的人生只有一次，我們最好不要浪費時間。我愛我的工作，我的家庭，以及我的人生經歷，花時間反思讓我明白如果我繼續關注并努力，那些尚未達到的目標是可行的。