Division of Labour

Work calls hard at the moment, an elevn hour shift yesterday taking my working week 45 minutes short of 50 hours. I spend 59 hours a week sleeping. This in theory has left me a very generous sounding 59 hours to myself this week...... Except it isn't.......

Each morning is swallowed in an hour of getting myself and food ready. A further half hour in eating my breakfast as I have a quick net surf, then about 20 mins getting to work. The remaining ten mins between waking up and getting to work is spent fussing the dog before I get up. so 59 minus 10.

Take awat another 2 for the drive home which always takes longer as the traffic builds taking us to 47. Then the average of an hour each night spent preparing food for the next day and that evening, leaves 42. Take away a couple more for shopping and longer nights cooking and that leaves 40.

A bit of a lie in takes another hour and my remaining time is down to 39. 16 of these stretch between my lie in and bedtime today and the other 23 split themselves between each week evening and last night after work, except I forgot the getting ready and getting to and from work yesterday so call it 22.

Of these, the last hour before bed each night is dead time where my brain struggles to keep going. TV is generally the answer here, or maybe a book, but nothing strenuous. The day will have left me too tired to do much else. so this leaves 2 and 3/4 hours each evening to do as I please, often while eating food, so cal it just over two hours each week night to really do as I please.

That precious weekend day will be taken up with a little cooking, some washing and what other household tasks I can bear to do. It is a time when i feel too tired to do much else and I need tojust chill in order to survive this next week, because this next week will be worse...... no precious Sunday to recover, work will call me both days for a twelve hour shift and as many hours as I can physically muster on the Sunday, probably around ten as that is normally my limit by then......

In that week, work may even call on me for a few extra hours in the week, maybe. i hope not.

So what i want to know is this. How do people with kids manage? How do people who exercise as well manage? how do people with tidy homes do it? How am I supposed to have th energy to be creative as well? How on earth are we supposed to lead balanced lives?

There are people out there who work these crazy long hours every week. How? Why?

I don't think this is right.... Maybe in the old days when a man had a woman at home to do all the other stuff so home time was just DIY, gardening and relaxing.... maybe then there could be balance..... maybe....

I want out of the rat race. I want to sleep less too....... I want more balance. I want a tidy house. I want to be thin and fit and healthy. I want to feel like being creative every week.

Can anyone honestly say this life is healthy?