Opinion: It’s not easy for farmers to find work-life balance
© Tim Scrivener Last month, I was asked by Women in Dairy to speak at a webinar about work-life balance. Initially, I was nervous – I’m not one of those super-organised people who effortlessly glides between life on the farm, my other commitments and my family.
I make lists and take great pleasure in ticking tasks off as I complete them. Sometimes I even add jobs I’ve already done and tick them off for a little dopamine boost. This is about the extent of my organisational capabilities.
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I wish I could be one of those ultra-disciplined people who lives by their smartphone calendar, using a complex system of alarms and reminders to ensure every hour of their time is effectively used, from waking an hour earlier than needed for a morning yoga session, through to completing their daily farm jobs, scheduling time for housework, preparing healthy meals, helping their children with homework, doing business admin and spending quality time with their partner, before ending their day with a mindfulness session and going to bed glowing with the aura of someone who lives in perfect equilibrium.
But that’s never going to be me. The combination of my personality (someone who works better under pressure and needs a deadline to motivate me) and my situation (a farm that is still in the set-up phase, plus two young children) mean life is always going to be a bit hectic.
I left my career in marketing because I thought farming would give a better work-life balance.
Not so, and 28 days paid holiday a year and every weekend off certainly seem appealing at times. But it was the right decision.
We are lucky to have a good team of staff, which means we can get away on holiday at the elusive “quiet times of year” which we all promise ourselves are just around the corner once we get calving/harvest/winter out of the way, and we are in control of what we do and when.
We often joke that if we won the lottery, we would buy a small farm and milk 100 cows by ourselves with no staff and life would be very simple.
Although managing a larger business brings the challenges of people management, it does mean we have flexibility and can take time off.
We also have the support of business partners to share the load.
The first thing non-farming people say to me when I tell them what I do is “you must work very long hours”.
I feel guilty when I admit that it’s my husband who does the 4.30am starts, and although there is work to do every day of the year, we can arrange the rota or adjust milking times so we can watch a rugby match on TV or visit family.
Two expressions come to mind when talking about work-life balance. “Work to live, not live to work” and “find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day again”.
When you are a farmer, your work is your life, so the first is always going to be difficult.
The second is more achievable. If you love what you do, seeking an unrealistic ideal of “balance” becomes irrelevant.
If you can make time to enjoy other things you love off the farm as well, you’re winning at life.