
Listen here to this podcast episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmrLU6joNuU
I recently got a chance to watch the new Netflix series, Emily in Paris, which transports me back to the time I lived abroad. Living abroad shift my perspective on the work-life balance. When I was living in Iceland and Italy, I was always aware of the importance of living in the moment. International living helps me grasp the difference between American and European culture.
In America, we live to work because our life rotates around the demands of work. This lifestyle encourages long working hours, making more money, neglecting family and friends, and taking fewer vacations. People who choose to live to work rarely take breaks to enjoy life but escape a life they hate. The feelings of low self-worth, needing validation, and other internal insecurities often plague their lives. Workaholism is the number one addiction in this live to work culture.
However, European culture promotes a work to live culture. This lifestyle encourages working fewer hours to enjoy a quality of life, making less money to live a specific lifestyle, and utilizing vacation for a time of leisure. People who choose this type of living are happier, productive, and excel in their personal and professional lives because they spend more time enhancing their creative nature.
A work to live mindset has significant benefits than a live to work philosophy if you notice people live longer in other countries versus the U.S. because they promote the importance of a healthy work-life balance.
And so I want to give you a few tips on how to begin your work to live lifestyle.
- Prioritize your most important task you need to complete. Figure out the top three things you have to finish at your job so you will not spend time working overtime.
- Use your vacation time. Don’t let your vacation time build up instead be proactive by planning your vacation at the beginning of the year.
- Plan your exit strategy. If you are working a job that does not promote your ideal lifestyle start looking for different alternatives.
