Every parent feels the need to provide well for their family. And in this day and age, it seems that everyone is working overtime. Why provide a little when you can provide a lot if you work more hours a day?

But what are you sacrificing when you spend all your time at work? In what ways are you hoping to provide for your family?

Finding a balance between work and your life will help you provide for your family, and yourself, in so many ways!

Benefits of Balance

There are quite a few benefits to finding a good work/life balance.

Health

Take this into consideration:

“ A recent study found that workers clocking at least 11 hours a day have a higher risk of depression than people working standard 7-8 hours.”

On top of that, those who work overtime are more likely to get fewer hours of sleep. Subpar sleeping habits lead to memory issues, weight gain, and feeling cranky and irritable. Even worse, it is now being linked to cancer and serious cardiovascular issues.

Stress at work can cause all these problems and more! Overworking yourself can lead to a decline in mental abilities and even dementia. Your heart rate and blood sugar can go up.

One more! Most of you have office jobs where you sit all day. We humans were not designed to sit for that long. It’s bad for our joints, our breathing, and our overall health.

Work

If you think that working 11 hours a day will help you to impress your boss, you just might be wrong. If you aren’t getting enough sleep and you’re stressed out, your work will suffer. Working longer hours doesn’t mean you’re working efficiently.

Also, spending long hours at the office can lead to resentment towards your job, your boss, and your coworkers. This can cause a general dissatisfaction in life.

Family

I think the best example is how it will affect your family life. Staying late at work means you might miss your child’s play. Working weekends means less time bonding with your children. Do you work holidays? How awful! I can’t imagine the holidays without my family.

You’ll even miss out on simple things like sharing a nightly dinner with your family.

Your spouse and your children can feel neglected so easily when a parent is overworked.

Did you know that busy parents spend just 30 minutes a day with their children? 30 minutes!

Pediatric Dental Assistants

So what can you do about your work/life balance? If you are ready to make the leap, we are here to catch you!

When you walk into a dentist office you may think it’s crazy. But really, it is organized chaos. Everyone has their function.

And being a Pediatric Dental Assistant means we have to have fun. We get to giggle and laugh and enjoy our jobs as much as we can because the children that come in need to enjoy themselves too! We want kids to enjoy the experience so we naturally have fun too!

Did you know that laughing actually makes you happy?

Most entry level jobs are multiple shifts and include weekends and holidays. This is not the case for Pediatric Dental Assistants! Even if you are at the bottom of the totem pole, you’ll have the same schedule as someone who has been there for 20 years.

And you won’t take your work home with you. I expect my assistants to forget their outside life when they’re at work and to forget their work when they are at home. Balance.

When you’re off work, you can plan activities with your family and make it to every play and important event. And you can have dinner with your family.

It is so important to have a balance in your life, for you and those around you. If your job isn’t giving you the life you dreamed of, maybe it’s time for a change.

And did you know we now offer financing? You really have no reason to put it off any longer if you’ve been wanting to enter the field of Pediatric Dental Assisting!

~Dr. Rhea Haugseth