Title: Work・Life・Un・Balance
Author：Professor Masashi Kawaichi, Department of Animal Gene Function, Division of Biological Science
I have been asked to write about work-life balance.
Why don't you look at the Cabinet Office website?
I saw it. I thought it was an apology website for the government's inaction, but it just says things that sound like personal matters.
First of all, teachers don't distinguish between their work and their hobby, do they? They are the worst contributors.
No, that's not true. There are jobs that people do for pay. I see. Work is what you do out of obligation, and life is what you like to do. But then family service is the worst kind of work.
How dare you!
According to this website, time with family and friends, self-development, and community activities are life. But my friends are all researchers, and my self-development is limited to my research. I'm hired to work at a local community association, and although I don't get paid, it's still work, no matter how you look at it. My American colleague who studied abroad used to go home at 6:00. They said they would get divorced if they were late. When they left, they had this look on their faces like they were about to go to work.
What a people! As long as they eat meals that someone else cooked, wear clothes that someone else washed, and live in a house that someone else cleaned, they don't think about work-life balance because their minds are occupied with work!
That's right. I suddenly realized why he asked me to write such a manuscript. It was to realize how blessed I am and that it is based on someone else's hard work. To be reminded that there are researchers out there who have to constantly think about their work-life balance just to get through the day.
