Day 12 (January 12): Work-Life Balance (or Lack Thereof?)

I’ve been thinking a lot about this elusive concept called “work-life balance.” It’s funny how the office always expects me to work overtime to meet the company’s financial goals, yet when I get home, it’s like the demands never stop. If anything, they ramp up. My kids have this uncanny ability to sense when I’ve just stepped through the door, and within minutes, they’re asking for help with homework, permission to stay up late, and, of course, the most urgent question of the day: “What’s for dinner?”

There’s a meeting today about "cutting costs" and "increasing efficiency." They say these things like they’re magic words that’ll fix everything. Maybe if I could apply the same principles to my home life—cut down on the TV screen time, increase efficiency with the homework routine, and reduce the amount of snacks disappearing from the pantry—I’d be on to something. But reality check: the kids don’t care about “synergy” or “cost-cutting.” They just want to live in the moment.

By the time I’m done with all the office meetings, I come home and face another set of tasks: family meals, helping with last-minute school projects, making sure everyone’s tucked in bed. There’s never enough time. And I’m constantly trying to juggle my role as the "company guy" and the "dad" without dropping any balls. It’s like working two full-time jobs, but no one gives you a bonus for surviving.

Still, in the midst of all this chaos, I can’t help but appreciate those rare moments of peace—like when we finally sit down for dinner and everyone’s talking over each other, laughing about the most random things. It’s in those moments that I realize I wouldn’t trade this for anything. Sure, it’s exhausting, but these little snippets of joy are what keep me going. So, maybe the "work-life balance" thing doesn’t need to be perfect. Maybe it's about finding balance in the mess.

Reflection: There’s no magic formula for work-life balance, but I’m starting to think it’s less about balancing and more about accepting that life is never going to be perfectly in sync. The trick is to embrace the chaos and find joy in the little things. Maybe next time I’ll try to apply “synergy” to family dinners instead of the office.

Day 13 (January 13): Cutting Costs and Growing Kids

Today was one of those corporate meetings where everyone talks about "cutting costs" and "increasing efficiency," as if we’re all just one Excel sheet away from saving the world. The buzzwords were flying faster than I could sip my coffee, but I kept thinking: How do I apply this to my personal life?

At work, the goal is always to trim down unnecessary expenses, streamline operations, and maximize profit. But at home? It feels like every time I think we’re cutting costs, the kids come home needing new shoes, new school supplies, and let's not even talk about the rising costs of snacks for the endless after-school hunger strikes. This evening, I swear, I heard my son ask for a "budget-friendly" skateboard like it was the hottest IPO in town.

I tried to be clever, imagining I could apply some corporate efficiency tactics to family life. Maybe I could create a spreadsheet for all the school-related expenses, or hold a family meeting to discuss "cost-saving initiatives" (we’d start with fewer trips to the ice cream shop). But the moment I sat down with the kids to present my brilliant idea, they just started bickering over who was going to sit in the “CEO” chair at the head of the table.

Still, there’s something about their constant growth, both physically and mentally, that reminds me of my work at Telekom Malaysia. Kids, like businesses, constantly evolve—demanding more, stretching resources, but somehow creating their own kind of profit: memories, love, and chaos. So maybe life at home is far from efficient, but it’s more profitable in ways the office could never understand.

It’s funny how work and home never seem to sync up. At the office, efficiency is the holy grail. At home, efficiency is a dream that gets buried under laundry, homework, and the eternal search for missing socks. But that’s what makes it all worth it, right?

Here’s to the real “synergy” at home—my kids making sure I never forget that life is messy, unpredictable, and absolutely irreplaceable.