JOIN USNo time left for anything
Most of the time, people end up taking it home. Birthdays and anniversaries are forgotten and a routine takes up precedence over everything. Long hours of commute are also to be blamed, as people find it difficult to catch up with friends, who are either working or residing in other parts of town. All these factors lead to a sense of loneliness among individuals and people feel alienated from the ones they love.
Metrolife asks professionals in the City if they too felt alienated due to hectic work schedules and what is the best way of tackling this self-imposed isolation.
Vitor, an engineer, says, “I work a minimum of eleven hours a day. So after work, I really don’t have the energy to socialise. Commuting from one place to the other takes up a lot of time and I would rather not do it on a weekday. On weekdays, you do tend to feel alienated but I make up for all the lost time during weekends and catch up with friends.”
One of the ways of dealing with alienation is by keeping in touch with people through social networking sites. Aditya Deshpande, an assistant professor says, “There was a time in my life when I couldn’t keep in touch with friends for close to two months. After that phase, it took time to build rapport as it was difficult to find common topics to speak on. Since then, I have made it a point to keep in touch with friends, either by giving them a call once a week or through Facebook.”
There are others like Anil Ramachandra, a theatre enthusiast, who understand the importance of friends and family. “Actually, I don’t have such a hectic work life and enjoy spending time with family and friends. I wouldn’t want to spend too much time away from them. Even when I have to work late, I make sure I inform at home and spend extra time with family on the weekends,” he adds.
Preeti Majgi, a clinical psychologist, says, “Work-life balance is essential for our mental well-being. A lot of people complain that once they start working, they find less time for family and friends. Some time must be dedicated to friends and family everyday. People need to make an effort to reach out to the people they love on an everyday basis for their own good. Most people usually don’t notice the fact that their life is becoming too much about work until they develop stress-related problems. All it requires is a simple step like a phone call to make one’s life stress-free.”