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Staying Alive: Work/Life Balance in China

In China, people are passionate about their daily chores and work. How will

you fare as a foreigner in the Middle Kingdom?

The Chinese cultural work ethic is one of the reasons behind the positive working

attitude. The government has put measures in place to ensure that

everybody, both the Chinese and the foreigners, is motivated to take on their

duties.

Otherwise, no one is entitled to government support for not being productive or for

unemployment. As a result, most people will settle for any work just to get something for

their daily life.

To most of these people, no job should be of shame as it puts bread on your table. It is quite humbling to see the

kind of employment that the locals will do just to earn a small amount of

money.

Standard working hours in ChinaAccording to the China working hours law, the

regular working hours should be between 08:00 to 18:00. The average work shift in China will be 10 hours. However, for most of the industries,

working hours in China factories can be adjusted with 2 hours given for break.

Mostly, the companies offer their employees hours between 12:00 and

14:00 to have a rest. On a good week, the average work hours in China per week

would translate to 50 hours. The typical Chinese work weekly with determination

and a lot of zeal to be of productive.

For most of the tedious jobs, you will find most of the Chinese people always working with no complaints of hardship. However,

most of those in the industrious jobs would like to switch to a better job with friendlier

terms.

Given the high competition in the Chinese job market, for one to acquire a good job, he or

she must stand out from the crowd. A particular factor that gives one an upper hand in a job search is academic qualifications. As a result, students are doing all their best to pass

well so as to be able to land a job after graduating.

Most of the college students are known to study hard, on average for 16 hours. Most of the classes begin at 7:00 hours

and end nearly at 21:00 hours. On Saturday, schooling is normal in China unlike most of the other nations in the

world.

To add to their skills, student opts for private teachers on the Sundays. Many of the students today aspire to be rich

and why shouldn’t they have given that their nation is heading towards

becoming the strongest economy in the world.

Staying Alive: Work-life Balance in ChinaThree things to avoid include talking about work too much after hours, working late at

night, and taking too many trips if they keep you from your loved ones. If you take too much work home and talk about it incessantly, it will take a toll on your relationships with others.

Rather than focusing on the communication that occurs between you and your loved

ones, you will continue to put forth too much energy that does not yield positive results. It

is much better to change the topic of discussion to pleasure and friendship or

another hobby that will refresh one’s mind.

One way to avoid such obsessive discussion of work is to create a list of hours in which all conversation must not be about the work day

and stick to your promise.

If at all possible, you should withdraw working on your paying job after hours.

Obviously, there will be some times when you do have to meet a deadline. Consider that if you just hold off on that work until the next day, you will probably complete

the task faster and more efficiently.

To avoid dwelling on homework or working on campus after hours, choose a meaningful

hobby like making crafts or painting to fill that time in a more creative way. Any hobbies that you cherish will certainly improve your artistic performance on the job in China. Such hobbies

might also work with friends and family members as a means of further bonding.

Avoid too many trips without your children and your spouse or partner. Traveling alone fails to enhance your

relationships. Perhaps some travel alone might be refreshing from time to time, but it interferes with the continuity of

your meaningful relationships.

Too much travel, too often, can take a toll on your body, especially when you yearn for your loved ones. There are ways in which one can include his or her family on such travels for

work. One such way is to be open and honest with your employer about the importance of

spending time with the household.

Everyone in China has the temptation to dedicate very long hours and months without a vacation to save for retirement. Many people

say that they will finally get to live their dreams at age sixty-five when they retire. They put off

following their dreams in hopes of one day having the money to live those dreams with a

minimum of luxury.

Not experiencing such thoughts in one’s youth does little to enhance the creative talent pool at work. Rather than putting off one’s dreams until the sunset of one’s life, a man or woman

might decide to live some of those dreams earlier on and benefit from the new

experiences on the job when those people bring their creative ideas to the table.

For you to have a successful career life in China, you need to know how to balance

between your job and social life. For instance, you can opt to stick to the

average work hours in China and avoid stressing yourself with extra jobs in

search of money.

The money will never be enough. However, with proper management of

the little you earn, you can rest assured that your life will be comfortable.

It is highly advisable to have some quality time with your family and

friends. Though your career is essential to your life, your friends and family are

too. Having a healthy social life has been known to be a major factor to one’s

productivity at work.

Employment, besides being a contribution to the world in which we live, is also a means to bring us closer to the one’s we love and the activities

that we like to do.

BonusClick on the link below to read the full blog post.

https://blog.laowaicareer.com/staying-alive-work-life-balance-china

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