The work/life balance (Anonymous)

Life in France is strange. It's so different and yet also exactly the same as England. But where it excels is the attitude to the work/life balance. It feels closer to my ideal here than in England, being skewed more to the "LIFE" side of the scales, whereas the culture in the UK seems more influenced by our good friends in the US. Here, holidays are not a sin, an annoyance, an affront to executives obsesssed with "maximising efficiency", but as an essential tool for keeping the workforce relaxed, stress-free and more able to complete their duties without burning out. The transport system hasn't been raped for profit. Lunch-breaks are lunch-breaks, not five minutes at your desk. Employees are people. (incidentally, whoever decided "personnel" should be renamed "human resources" should be shot)

I've been thinking about my work and life a lot recently. I've realised that work is not going to provide me with the intellectual and creative output I once (maybe naively) thought it would. So I turn to things outside work, a place currently dominated by three things - my wife and daughter, the Internet, and games. To this I need to make time for a fourth "thing"... learning new stuff. Film-making, photography, music, writing, programming, all things I would like to do, learn, improve at. Oh where to fit it all in.