In most cases, people emphasize one of these areas, and the other one rags behind. That is either inadequate performance at work or unstable family relationships. Fortunately, balancing work and family responsibilities is only complicated but not impossible.
Read on to learn tips on how you can thrive in both your career and family life.
Create Boundaries
Setting clear boundaries is key to balancing family and work responsibility. These boundaries will help you determine when to shift from one area to the other. For instance, you and the rest of your family can set limits like there is no use of phones or laptops during dinner.
This is set as a family time that you cannot mix with work. Your family members will feel valued if you stick to such and other boundaries to help you spend time with them. When they are comfortable, it is easy to concentrate on your work.
Be more Flexible and more Adaptive
Achieving a perfect balance between family and work is close to impossible. In some instances, you may end up in a situation where you are unable to balance. For instance, it is time to go to work but you have a sick family member, forcing you to be away from work. On the other hand, you may have a strict deadline that you need to meet, making you miss dinner.
When this happens, don’t beat yourself up. Instead, cope with the little imbalance and ensure that this does not become the norm.
Get Help Where Possible
Pushing your body to do so much more than it can handle can lead to mental and physical health problems. To avoid such extreme cases, hire help where necessary. Hiring a babysitter is one way through which you can seek help. With a babysitter, you have more time to focus on your work.
On the other hand, if you are an entrepreneur, employ a strong team that you can entrust to keep the business running as you take some time off. Such sources of help make it easy for you to balance and help you create time for yourself.
Share With Others
Few working moms have an easy time balancing work and family responsibilities. For this reason, joining fellow women and sharing your experience could make things easier for you. First, it is comforting to know that there is somebody else in a struggle that’s similar to yours. Moreover, you can share coping strategies to make life easier. You can also assist each other where possible for instance taking turns to drive or pick up kids to/from school.
Are You Balancing Your Family and Work Responsibilities?
The key to balancing your work and family responsibility is being keen on how you spend your time and money. However, don’t beat yourself up if you are yet to achieve this balance. Remember, you need to be physically and mentally healthy for you to handle your family and your career.
Sources: Carizon, LifeHack, pewresearch, raising children, all pro dad, Indeed, focus on the family, mitoq
