Balancing Work and Family
Balancing work and family is a difficult thing for all of us. No matter if we stay home to work and care for children or go out into the workplace, we have responsibilities, schedules, and activities at work and with our family. There are hundreds of books that tell us how to balance our lives. We may keep a date book, calendar, use a blackberry or cellphone to coordinate our family’s schedules. In this article, we’ll examine the issues we face in our juggling act and how to make changes.
The first step in balancing work and family is to decide what is important to us. One exercise suggested from a life coach is to divide a piece of paper into four quadrants. Label the two on the left WORK and ME and the two on the right PLAY and OTHERS. Then write what you did or will do today in each category. The life coach says that an ideal day is when you’re dabbling in all four quadrants but keeping them separate. Be fully in the place you are in each given moment of the day. When you work, work. When you play, give yourself permission to play. By looking at this exercise, you can see what is out of balance. What is really important to you? What are the choices you make? What expectations are realistic for you? What do you want to change?
How do you go about making changes? That is the tricky part! We must look at our priorities and our values. What do you value as a family and what are you doing that supports those values? Your family can sit down together to discuss schedules, time management, and prioritization. Your family can work together to meet children’s and parents’ needs. By doing this, your children will learn vital language and problem-solving skills. This also allows them to voice their opinion which in turn builds their self-esteem.
You can apply the same principle to your work, whether you work alone or with others. When you tackle a new project, join a new work team, or begin reorganizing a work area, you sit down and plan. Take stock of what is important to accomplish in any given moment. Where does your time and energy go? Is time wasted? If so, is there anything you can do to change it?
Your expression of family values, about balancing work and family, and your attitudes and actions about attaining that balance will provide examples and experience for your children to balance their desires and their activities, plan for “work,” and still have fun with their family.
Jill Phillips
ECFE Parent Educator