Life is a balancing act for many people, but this is especially true for working moms. Trying to juggle your career, duties as a wife, and the responsibilities to your children can be challenging and overwhelming. However, you can wake up each day looking forward to the upcoming challenges with excitement!
Try these tips to effectively cope with the pressures and demands of your incredibly busy life:
1. Separate your family time and office time. Set proper boundaries to provide adequate attention to each of your roles. No scheduling solution is perfect, but the effort alone will pay big dividends in your stress level and effectiveness as a parent, wife, and career woman.
* When you’re in the office, concentrate on work. Similarly leave work at work when you come home for the evening and give your family your undivided attention. You’ll get more done in less time and feel less stressed.
2. Make plans with your kids for the weekend. Allow your kids to choose the activity they wish on the weekend. This communicates value to your children and lets them know that they’re important to you. During this time, focus exclusively on them and enjoy your time together.
3. Enjoy dinner together as a family. Discuss your day and enjoy family togetherness over your evening meal.
* Switch off your cell phones, iPods, and any distracting gadgets during time spent with your family so work cannot interfere.
4. Show your children what you do. Let your children know about your career, why it’s important to you, and why it’s important to them. The more they know about where mom spends her day, the more accepting they’ll be of your absence while you’re at work.
* Take your kids to the office whenever possible and familiarize them with your work. Let them see your workplace first-hand and learn all about what you do.
5. Introduce your kids to your colleagues’ children. This way, you can form a common link between work and family and more easily maintain your work/life balance.
6. Find hobbies that you all enjoy. If your children are passionate about something that you also enjoy, this gives you an outlet to experience regular quality time with them and rejuvenating recreation at the same time.
7. Get to know your child’s friends. Organize a sleepover and get to know who your kids hang out with. Get to know their friends’ parents. Take an active role in encouraging your children to hang around with positive people that can fuel their growth.
8. Go on a family vacation once a year. Choose a destination that you and your kids all agree on. Make sure the vacation offers something enjoyable for everyone. Most importantly, leave office work at the office. This communicates to your children that they are valuable to you.
9. Hire a maid for the household work. If the pressure at your office is too much or your time is spread too thin, hire a maid for the household chores. Do whatever it takes to spend lots of quality time with your children. Hire someone to do the mundane work so you can do the most important work of all: being a loving parent to your children.
By following these tips, you can bring sanity to a world that was once filled with constant chaos. You can juggle your career and family life if you make decisions that are consistent with your values, plan your time carefully, and use your resources on the priorities that are most important.
