Some free advice I learned the hard way -- for whatever it's worth...
Never, ever feel guilty about taking time off, especially if you have a wife and children. It's your moral duty not only to them, but to yourself as well. If you're single, you still need to spend more time away from work than you do at work.
The American notion of the American dream is just that -- a dream. Spend more time with family and friends than you do at work. Limit yourself to 40 hours only. If you can't do it in 40, it doesn't need doing. Don't work nights or weekends unless your business is geared to those hours, e.g. restaurant-based IT, hotels, you get it.
When you go home at night, you're unemployed. Set up emails and texts to reply you are busy. I set the expectation with my bosses that I am unavailable nights and weekends. My family come first. Full stop. Money can be made anywhere, my family is more important. I have one family and one life. I cannot hit the rewind button. You choose your legacy: time spent with loved ones or time making money for people that don't love you. You choose. This is not an attack on hard work, it's an attack on obsessiveness to get ahead. It's not required to have a good life. France is right. Work after 35 hours sucks, as do unwanted email and text missives after COB.
Never, ever feel guilty about taking time off, especially if you have a wife and children. It's your moral duty not only to them, but to yourself as well. If you're single, you still need to spend more time away from work than you do at work.
The American notion of the American dream is just that -- a dream. Spend more time with family and friends than you do at work. Limit yourself to 40 hours only. If you can't do it in 40, it doesn't need doing. Don't work nights or weekends unless your business is geared to those hours, e.g. restaurant-based IT, hotels, you get it.
When you go home at night, you're unemployed. Set up emails and texts to reply you are busy. I set the expectation with my bosses that I am unavailable nights and weekends. My family come first. Full stop. Money can be made anywhere, my family is more important. I have one family and one life. I cannot hit the rewind button. You choose your legacy: time spent with loved ones or time making money for people that don't love you. You choose. This is not an attack on hard work, it's an attack on obsessiveness to get ahead. It's not required to have a good life. France is right. Work after 35 hours sucks, as do unwanted email and text missives after COB.