I was inspired to write a little piece on this blog post which was shared across many of my friends:

http://philipbloom.net/2013/01/01/worklife-2/

Its a blog by Phillip Bloom, a famous filmmaker and blogger, who starts:

"I used to have a life. I gave it up 6 and a half years ago. What happened 6 and a half years ago? I went freelance. Do I regret this? Not at all."

The entire blog is about his Work Life balance, and what cost that putting his job before all else has come at. Phillip speaks about how a personal loss recently has thrown things back into perspective for him. His best friend just lost a long battle with cancer, and he just didn't get the chance to see him enough, or at all, before he died, all because he spent too much time in the edit suite, and did not prioritise.

And I think this is a blog that has struck a chord with a lot of people out there. Where and when do you draw the line? Or do you draw it before you have even began?

The first media job I ever worked in was on a show called Katy Brands Big Ass Show, and I met a girl there working as continuity. Her words of advice for me where: "I wish a woman had told me this before I started.... DON'T GO INTO THE MEDIA INDUSTRY! Because one day, you'll want kids, and you won't be able to have one".

This girl had met her boyfriend in the media industry, as she didn't have much time to meet many other people, and they were both freelancers. This meant that she couldn't get the money, or any paid time off to have any kids, or to rear them! And she had no other qualifications to go into anything else at this stage in her life. Only experience in the industry. So she was stuck.

Her advice has echoed in the back of my head ever since, and its something I have always tried to consider this when making career decisions. And its not just the children thing. Many people i speak with rarely have time to see their friends, keep up relationships or see their families... and that isn't particularly the life I wish to lead.

When I was in the height of busy times in the production office in London, I rarely got to see anyone other than who I was working with, and who I was living with... most people got used to the fact that I didn't text them back for nearly a week most of the time, and could never make plans afterwork or for weekends, because I'd never know what would come in! And this is part of the reason that I made the move to Manchester... I wanted to change things up a bit and discover different ways to live!

There are of course, tons of upsides to working in a job like this, yes it takes up time, but you get to meet some fantastic people, see a lot of the world, and its pretty satisfying... but...

"A wise lady from a land far, far away once said to me “no one ever said on their death bed ‘I wish I spent more time at work.’”

My words of advice would be, try a bit of everything, and do what you love... and don't be afraid to explore around until you find it!! If the job you love takes up most of your time, remember what your priorities really are, and try and balance them all!