The key to health and fulfillment is to do what you can to live a balanced life. However, when you’re juggling work and family, your life balance can be more difficult depending on your profession. While some professions can be very lucrative and make it easier to financially support a family it may be harder work to give them the time that they deserve. So if you’re thinking of making a career change or going out into the workforce for the first time here are some professions that may affect the balance of your life.
1. Ship Captain
According to data provided by commercial businesses interviewed for the Workforce Strategy, farm hands, and management comprise 49% and 18% of Maine’s aquaculture labor. What about becoming a ship captain? Being a ship captain puts you in command of a vessel that may be in charge of fishing or carrying cargo. While it might sound fun and romantic to live life on the sea it can mean weeks or even months away from your family depending on what type of vessel you’re working on.
2. Lawyer
If you want an in-demand profession that can usually guarantee a pretty lucrative income being a lawyer is one of them. As a lawyer, you have different Specialties you can choose from such as family law defense attorneys malpractice specialists, and more. However, the trade-off for being a lawyer is you often have to work a lot of overtime that can easily bleed into late nights and sometimes weekends. If you’re someone who ends up handling a high-profile case then that will mean even more time away from your loved ones.
3. Truck Driver
Truck drivers are vital to the nation’s economy. They haul several items such as food, clothing, fuel, and other products across states so that people have all the items needed in stores as well as services for homes. If you dream of living life on a road where you don’t have to work in an office and can stay mobile, becoming a truck driver is for you. However, being a truck driver means your average week will likely be away from your family more often than not. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration limits how many hours a trucker can drive in one day (and total hours in a week) and mandates a period of rest between shifts.
4. Doctor
Do you enjoy working with people and don’t mind working long hours? As long as you don’t mind going through several years of school and working late nights you could become a physician. Once you finally become a full-time physician in many cases you may be on call and may have to go to the hospital to handle a particular patient or to be available due to an accident that resulted in many injuries or casualties.
5. Chef
Do you watch channels like the Food Network and envision having your restaurant or Cafe one day? If you love food you provide a service that many people enjoy and will pay money for if you can deliver quality results. However, the path to becoming a chef may not be lucrative at first. According to StudyFinds, seven out of 10 Americans are living paycheck to paycheck. While you may be living paycheck to paycheck as you establish yourself, a quality restaurant can provide a reliable source of income over time. After you have established your chef career, you may end up spending most of your nights away from home since restaurants often make most of their money during the dinner hour. Weekends are also a busy time for chefs since people often eat out more on the weekends as well. You may be able to create more balance if you’re able to include your family in your food business.
Living a balanced life is good for everyone. However, it can be difficult to achieve when you’re trying to make ends meet for your family depending on your profession. Think long and hard about the type of work that would truly make you happy while also providing the income that you need.