How to tell if you love what you do

Peter Crocker How do you know if you really love your work? There are two points in the week that are sure-fire indicators.

Firstly, there’s Friday night.

For many, beer o’clock Friday afternoon is the longed-for highlight of the week. There’s a feeling of elation that business is done and life can begin again.

It’s a night to unwind and put work behind us. A couple of glorious days stretch out ahead: days where we can escape work worries and turn our focus to friends and family.

Then, there’s Sunday night.

Everything has gone beautifully, but as the light starts to fade the gloom can creep in.

Only when the last person’s left the BBQ do thoughts of deadlines and meetings start to infiltrate the weekend. A cloud descends over the couch which no longer feels as comfy as it was. It’s the early on-set of Mondayitis.

Like the last day of a summer holiday, there’s something sad about a Sunday night.

Okay, so Friday night’s always going to hold a special place, but it’s the heights of the high on a Friday night and the depths of the low on a Sunday night that can give us insight into whether or not we love what we do.

When Friday night stops feeling like we’ve just been let out of jail and when Sunday nights lose their gloom, work love is in the air.

But is it realistic for work, life and leisure to blend 100% happily? Or will work always be work and weekends weekends? We'd love to hear your view.

Until next week.

Love your work (even on Sunday night)

Peter Crocker is a director of Flying Solo responsible for the areas of marketing and advertising. He is a business copywriter specialising in websites, videos and marketing communications.

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I agree it's a really good indicator. I remember when I started my own business, one of my friends said to me "You'll never need to look forward to Friday nights again". For a few years that was true, I felt no excitement when beer o'clock came around, but that was mostly because I didn't have a weekend! Now, I'm drawing a line in the sand and trying not to work weekends and I can start to feel the highs, although luckily not getting any lows! Louise Gorrie from Sydney | Read my articles
Chinese philosophy teaches us to minimalise extremes and one interpretation of Jihad considers the relavence of the constant inner battle.
To me in life and business it's always about balance which is always a battle. Andrew from Austalia
I hear a lot of advice that says you should separate work from leisure, but I disagree. I think it depends on the person, and how much they love their work.
I certainly believe that you should rest your mind at least 1 day a week and make an effort to focus on anything but work, but at the same time, I've really enjoyed doing un-pressured work related things over weekends that still move the business forwards, just because...they do!
I've also picked up clients at social parties unintentionally. If you're passionate about what you do and others are interested then I don't think you should deprive them of talking about it. And if you love what you do and you want to do work related things in your free time, then do it and enjoy it! Just make sure you measure the effects on your energy and performance during work hours. Mark Moore from Coolum Beach | Read my articles
A couple of years ago I was at a family bbq late on a sunday afternoon and the conversation switched to work. Everyone in the room was saying that the pre-work gloom was descending but I realised that it wasn't for me. It hadn't been for a few years but I only realised it at that moment. That was when I new that, despite all the setbacks and disadvantages of working from home, I love my work Ian Hamblin from NSW
One of the things I like about flying solo is that the weekends are great times to read and write if I feel like it and Tuesday afternoons can be quiet at the supermarket.
For me, notions of Friday and Sunday night only dictate the need or otherwise for clean school uniforms and lunches. Karen Morath from Melbourne | Read my articles
I've always worked in fairly non-standard ways. So (apart from two years) my life has never fallen into this neat division.
I think terms like "work-life balance" are most telling: what is it that you balance against life?
Why shouldn't earning our livings be enjoyable? Evan from Sydney, Australia

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