Life balance

A while ago, I was talking to someone about the joys of running a business, and in discussing why I was actually happy to walk away from a relatively high – and secure – income I used the phrase “work/life balance”.

“I hate it when people say that” she responded, “It’s about life balance, not work/life balance. Work is just one part of the whole, and shouldn’t be any more important than the others.” Now, it doesn’t matter whether you think she was right or not, but it is an interesting subject to mull over. I was thinking about it yesterday evening, in fact, because I was preparing some papers for a hastily-arranged meeting with a client today and had been rather put out at having to don a suit (although no tie, you can be sure) and get myself on a train a touch too close to sparrow fart for comfort.

In a (vaguely) similar vein, Bea’s struggling with one or two issues at the moment, having had to work until 1.30am for three days running; we’re also getting slightly pissed off about the fact that it’s impossible to plan ahead due to the uncertainty surrounding her days off and shift rotas. The job itself is great, but there’s a downside; it’s just affecting her life balance a bit (see what I’m saying?).

Anyway, more on this subject another time. The client I met today was actually my first for the business, and we’ve been working together for about a year and a half now. It’s something of a consultant’s dream because I’m regarded as an integral part of the internal management team these days, and that can be a hard thing to achieve. In fact, it can be an impossible thing to achieve. The offices are on the river, situated between London Bridge and Tower Bridge, and as it was a nice day when I left after lunch I decided to go for a walk.

Now, I didn’t have my camera with me, but even so decided to take a few shots on my mobile (that’s cell-phone to most of you lot!); the results weren’t so bad (they can’t have been, considering that I was pleased enough with them to give them names). Just cut me some slack, because I’ll be going back some time soon to give my Canon an airing.

And don’t take that the wrong way.

Please.



(Oh, and the mobile's a Nokia N95, for those that asked!)