The Work-Life Balance Of An IT Professional

Being an IT Professional, whether it's a customer service position in a support team or working in the backend as part of a network administrator team, can be all consuming if one doesn't work to create a life outside of it. At the beginning of my IT career, despite me having grown up as a child with a variety of interests, I actually had to ask my co-workers what they did after work.

When you find yourself in a space of only having work to fill your days, you're in trouble. First and foremost - tell yourself it's ok to have fun and then go have it. You want a good example? I found myself singing one morning when I couldn't sleep due to the endless hunt for a new job I've been on. Could I bring the house down in front of thousands of people every night? No.

One would ask, what is the point of singing if you don't make any money nor feel you could be good enough to do it professionally? The answer is I do it because it brings me confidence, which is required when working in IT, I do it because knowing how your voice works also works with how you command yourself amongst others. Singing at the end of the day can not only shape your personal self but rebuild it when you feel broken down by the daily grind of not only a career in IT, but any career that can take alot out of you.

You yourself reading this post may not feel singing is for you, but there is a hobby or an interest that gives you the fuel you need to be yourself and be yourself outside of the work you do. The saying is used alot, perhaps too much these days, but it remains true: work to live, don't live to work.

The work will always be there.

If you don't put work into your life, you won't.