Work / life / stalking balance.

[Tom D]

Following from I. farticus’s thread on selling up and being in a slightly similar position myself I thought it might help to have a thread on work life balance. I have 3 small kids and run my own business and I agree it’s not easy to balance your time between everything. Perhaps people can share their tips and advice on the subject. I wish Farticus all the best in the future and don’t want to pick over his decision, we are all unique as are our situations. When faced with similar pressures I have gone the opposite way and am making a point of taking some ‘me’ time to help keep my feet on the ground. I find even a couple of hours walk with the rifle to be a real tonic to the stresses of life and I have decided that I ought to do it more. When you have your own business it’s easy to get caught up in it and end up working 70+hour weeks, this isn’t good for either you or your family. So my answer is work less and take some time for yourself...

Other thoughts welcome, there may be people on here who will appreciate some perspective on this subject....

 

[finnbear270]

I used to be self employed, I was never going to be a millionaire, but I could pick & choose what I did & when I did it & for how much, now I am back in P.A.Y.E. on shifts ................ not so many chances to take up my bookings/foxing/ Boar trips etc ... without referring to the workshop calendar.

 

[Cottis]

Everybody is different and I think the key is to always be happy to assess yourself and the important people around you. The intention being to make everything as good as possible without over analysing stuff too much. You can go too far. Life can and does get hectic but as with most things, accepting is the best way forward. Fighting against the grain rarely helps.

I decided when I was in my early 20's that I was not prepared to have children as I was all too aware of how important ultimate freedom was to me. A handful of years later, I then decided to reduce how much work I did and to make my money work harder. This gave me a new wage in increased freedom but meant I had to forego a few things, all of which were unnecessary.

I have an annoying health issue which relates to chronic fatigue with some days being easier/harder than others. No test or professional can find out what is wrong with me. I have had to give up cycling, golf and other more active pastimes but other than that, I could not be happier really. My decisions could be terrible for others. Clarity helps and isn't always possible.

One thing is for certain. You are going to have hard times whether it be with health, finance, employment, family, bereavement etc. Accept it all and let time work its magic. Sometimes magic cannot be worked. Again, accepting that is the key and something Farticus seems highly adept at.

 

[Cris]

I guess we all go through period when stalking like many other things has to take back seat. I moved abroad for work and sold up everything and gave up my FAC. Some years later after moving back to the uk and settling in a small village, I met a stalker and Game dealer. Now ten years on the kids have grown up and I have established a good balance out once a week and maybe a bit less in the winter as day length limits outings to the weekend. Who knows how things may change in the future but for now it works for me.

 

[bogtrotter]

Slightly different for me stalking was my work so any spare time was spent doing something completely unconnected.

 

[teyhan1]

No compromise.
Shooting/stalking 1st.
Thats why local stalking is a must.
In my 30 years with the missus. She has

rammed my car, blocked the front door, chased me in her car for 10 miles.
We’re still together and have two kids and I still say I’m off out.
Consistency, consistency, consistency.

 

[VSS]

I think the toughest choice lies with what you do for a living. Do you aim for a high salary job, so you can afford to indulge yourself with expensive hobbies like stalking, when you can get time off, or do you go for a low paid (maybe self-employed) rural existence that enables you to include stalking etc as part of that lifestyle choice?
Personally I chose, from an early age, to follow the latter course. I haven't ever made much more than £5000 per year (profit) from my self-employment, but I can pick up my rifle and go stalking whenever I fancy, at minimal cost. What few costs there are (ammo, fuel for pickup) classify as business expenses, so I offset them against income, and claim back the VAT.
So, although I'm what you'd call "cash poor" (i.e very little disposable income) my work / life balance is a lot better than many higher earners, and I don't get stressed!

 

[joed]

No compromise.
Shooting/stalking 1st.
Thats why local stalking is a must.
In my 30 years with the missus. She has

rammed my car, blocked the front door, chased me in her car for 10 miles.
We’re still together and have two kids and I still say I’m off out.
Consistency, consistency, consistency.

Oh how I wish. 2 small children have made shooting a luxury for me. I agree with the stalking local situation making it easier but thay is not always possible.

I am of the current mindset that time with the family is most important i get evenings after the kids are in bed...not much good for stalking but I can go after other quarry and I can get out a reasonable amount.

Balance is the key to consistency!!

 

[User00025]

I suppose I must be classified as "Certifiable". Keepered and stalked for a good part of my life and retired three times. Just taken on the "Jewson lot" again. Big fallow numbers, Rabbits galore, and wild bird place. Wonder when I'll learn, probably in 10 years in my late 80's.

 

[Tom D]

Combining your hobby with your work is a rare treat that few achieve. Great if you can. I get to work outside at least.

 

[kripton]

I consider myself very lucky - I retired last August (having no savings and only ever making a very modest income) but I had introduced my 2 sons to fishing and shooting at an early age (when they were 3 and 4 years old respectively) - Those sons are now in their 40s and one has his own destination fishing company (thus occasional "freebies" for me to Iceland, Russia etc) and the other does photography and writes occasional articles for a shooting ,magazine. We are able to stalk on the adjacent farm land and we control the deer on a couple of market gardens where they are otherwise costing the owners a fortune in lost or damaged produce.
I wish Farticus all the best for the future - I have enjoyed reading his posts on this forum - even if no longer shooting I hope he will still feel able to give us the benefit of his expertise from time to time as he must have many friends on Stalking Directory who value his opinions. Hopefully he will be able to return to stalking in the future and when (rather than if) he does so please let everyone know.

 

[Freeforester]

Slightly different for me stalking was my work so any spare time was spent doing something completely unconnected.

+1, there's more to life than stalking, but making your living from the value added produce isn't the worst. A bit of flying with a paramotor gets me off the planet now and again, when time and weather permit.

 

[lochty]

I was lucky enough to have a good job which allowed me to stalk as a hobby. When I was made redundant from that, and other things didn't work as I had planned, I was also lucky enough to get a job as a stalking ghillie, then stalker on a large estate in the Cairngorms. Working with deer for 6 days a week, 7 months at a time helps increase your knowledge massively. I have now retired and have gone back to recreational stalking which has put life back into balance.

 

[GSP84]

It’s a funny thing.

I work to shoot, and one day I will get made redundant and I hope I have saved enough to put the time in to making the outdoors my work somehow.

The forestry commission have a trainee ranger position in the Peak District which would be the dream scenario for me, but I just can’t afford it at the moment.

id make the sacarafice in order to be happy and enjoy life, but my wife prefers the happiness she has now.

 

[HappyHunter]

Brilliant post / question and one in my mind that is unanswered. For me at the moment, in my early thirties I'm hoping for the best of both. With a hunger for life I push on, currently in a reasonably paid job hoping to push on up the career ladder to fund the things I like to do. Stressful but rewarding at times and with the knowledge I'm capable of more professionally.

I do this for security and to enjoy the things I love but still struggling. Stalking and sport fishing the real passions as well as small luxuries at home.

I'm very lucky in having land to shoot and somebody prepared to teach me all FOC but aware that should circumstance change I'd struggle to fund the lifestyle I desire.

My ideal situation would be to remain in the home we're in, a family if it works out and the time and energy to commit to the things I love. I don't want the world, a few luxuries in the shopping basket and filling up the truck without counting the pennies as well as maybe a nice holiday each year with money left over to fill the freezer and scratch the itch.

I do do always consider and have open discussions with the wife about where we are going, a change in location, some sacrifices but a simpler life with possibly more satisfaction all round rather than living for the weekends so to speak.

Who knows which way we'll end up going. Will see what happens.

One thing that does worry from my perspective is that I'm certain we'd enjoy a more simplistic, self sufficient life with more time outdoors (with sacrifices made) but that in this country seems difficult.

 

[Heym SR20]

Work / life / hobby balance is always in a state of Flux. Young kids and both work and hobbies suffer. No wonder the country is b........ those in the engine room of government, services and private sector are in their 30’s and suffering from lack of sleep.

As kids grow work can take more importance again, cash gets better etc and then suddenly kids no longer required 24/7 and suddenly there is more time for hobbies.

For most of us Stalking is a pastime / interest and some years you will have a week or two dedicated stalking, or you will be able to get regularly, other times nose is at the grindstone elsewhere.

I think it’s important a number of interests and to do less than you would ideally like - that way it keeps it special.

For the last couple of years I have been building a business and it’s been my main focus, Stalking has taken a back seat - well not so much the stalking, it’s the pulling the trigger bit. I was out yesterday evening and had two nice bucks 40 yards from me. I just watched them. They were still in velvet and winter coats and think they will be nice bucks in a couple of years. But truth be told I could nt be bothered nor have the time to shoot one and then have to gralloch and then skin and butcher. I had a really nice walk and 90% of the Stalking experience.

I would nt give up hobbies - you can always come back to them. And one year old toddlers very quickly become teenagers who are close to leaving home.

 

[Monkey Spanker]

Combining your hobby with your work is a rare treat that few achieve. Great if you can. I get to work outside at least.

Be very careful what you wish for! Once your hobby becomes your job, you have lost your hobby! Then, like any job it just becomes a chore when you are forced to do it every day no matter what the weather etc..
I stopped fly fishing about 12 years ago. I've just started again in a lovely little syndicate lake and I'm loving it! Variety is the spice of life! You only get one life. Live it and enjoy the things you like before you die! One life - live it!
MS

 

[VSS]

Be very careful what you wish for! Once your hobby becomes your job, you have lost your hobby! Then, like any job it just becomes a chore when you are forced to do it every day no matter what the weather etc..
I stopped fly fishing about 12 years ago. I've just started again in a lovely little syndicate lake and I'm loving it! Variety is the spice of life! You only get one life. Live it and enjoy the things you like before you die! One life - live it!
MS

So true!
I wrote a magazine article recently about precisely this scenario. I see it a lot in the smallholding sector - people who run a smallholding as a hobby, love it, dream of giving up the day job and working on the land full time. If ever they achieve this ambition it quickly degenerates into a chore. It's essential then that they find a hobby that's completely different and gets them off the place from time to time.
For myself, as a farmer, shooting and stalking are great hobbies as they get me off my own farm, yet fit in well in with my other interests.
(And I can justify it all through the farm accounts under the vague heading "pest control" )

 

[25 Sharps]

For me family first, then work (because it feeds and houses the family) then shooting. I have a reasonably stressful job that pays for the family and leaves a bit for shooting. I've worked hard for the last 12-15 years, to build up a decent bank of ground around me 4000 acres or so of vermin control a little under half for deer, all linked up and within 15 minutes of here. I put the effort in on the vermin, out twice a week minimum and get the deer as a thanks.

I'm fortunate enough to have a wife who knows that the time I'm out is my time to switch off and relax so she's happy for me to do it, I try not to push it too far. Most of the vermin work is done after the kids have gone to bed, get the stalks in early mornings so I'm generally back for the day. I love pigeon shooting but don't do it as much as I'd like as that's a day time activity and eats into family time, until the kids are old enough to come along that is!

 

[Fursty Ferret]

A subject close to my heart at the moment.
I have just changed career after 20+ years with the same company. The reason is a better home/work life balance despite a salary cut.
I also had twin boys last year and one of them is disabled so its been a challenging year and many more to come im sure.
However it has not impacted much on my stalking. Someone said there is more to life than stalking.....true......but is there there more value to life than spending time doing what you love....I think not.
Of course the family always comes first but if the time comes that you have to stop doing what you love doing then something has gone wrong and for me its important to not let that happen. If you are happy then your family life should be happy but life isnt that simple.
Totally get the bit around your hobby being your job though and how it degrades the enjoyment of that "hobby" .
My new job is doing something I have a genuine interest in and is pretty close to my hunting/wildlife management interests without directly detracting from my main passion.
Hopefully a happy medium!