Work, Rest or Play?

I've found after 17 years in this business that us painters tend to work longer hours than a lot of other trades. One reason could be that our average wage is less than the other trades so therefore we work longer to compensate for the difference in pay. Another reason is that, especially on site work, the timescale to finish the job has been reduced because of the trades before our own running late. That in turn leads to us having to shoehorn all the work into a smaller schedule and obviously leads to longer hours.

It's not always the fault of others though. You could be on a price and think, I'll stop a bit later tonight get it done and then make a bit more this week. Often you sit and work out the difference between the hours you stay over and the price and usually only about £20 difference. Thats when you ask yourself is it really worth it? I know of a lot of painters who work two jobs in at a time, finish one in the day about 3 then go and work on another till 9 in the evening. Comes down to a lot who just can't say no to the work.

The reason I am raising this point is it worth it? Is it worth sacrificing the time spent with your family? So many painters can tell a story of their relationships breaking down because of the hours they put in. They all say they do it so they can pay for their family to have a good life, but then they lose out on their own lives working every hour. It's a vicious circle. I won't say I haven't worked long hours, I still do now but not to the extent I used to. When I was single, I'd work away from home a lot, putting in 14, 15 hour shifts 7 days a week, for weeks on end. Now I have children I won't do it. Ok I've worked 12 hour days a few times this year, as I'm the sole earner of the family (at the moment) I have needed to try and earn a bit more and I tend to work most Saturday mornings as well, but I don't do it every week. To me my family are very important, as I expect they are to most people, and I want to be there for them as much as I can. My wife works hard looking after our two children who are a total handful and I know I couldn't do it myself as a full time job! So in that sense I like to be at home as much as I can to help, but what of the others who have sacrificed seeing their children grow up in pursuit of work. They can't get back the things they have missed by working those hours, so in the end can they say was it worth it?

My view is no. Obviously you want to provide for your family the best way you know how to but never allow work to get in the way of seeing your family grow up. Some things are more important. Like your health. The longer hours you work the more strain you put on your body. You think you can shake it off, having energy drinks and the like but in the end it catches up with you. A couple of years back I threw myself into work, my mom had recently died and we had just had our first daughter so I wasn't getting much sleep either. I thought by working hard I could take my mind off things and earn a bit more money so I could have a few weeks off down the line. In the end working and travelling these hours caught up with me and I was admitted to hospital with a severe throat infection and was bed ridden for nearly two weeks. Ever since then I have been wary of the effects of burnout.

The way is to find that happy medium, work enough to provide but not too much so that your home life suffers. Trouble is one of the two will normally lose out before you realize it.

A quick update on some of the tools I've been using lately, the Wooster Little Ben roller arm and the pro doo-z 12"sleeve. Haven't ventured from Hamiltion Superlight and Purdy Colossus sleeves really over the past couple of years, well apart from the Fat Hog Evolution long pile (which are superb for mist coating) but thought I'd give these a go. I was a bit apprehensive about the little ben frame, due to the fact it is plastic but I've been pleasantly surprised. Add in the pro doo-z sleeve and it works well. It's light to hold, the sleeve holds a lot of paint yet spreads it beautifully and leaves a nice flat finish. Coupled with the sliver tip brushes I'm finding the Wooster range to be very good.

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