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Balancing
Work Life & Family Life
Think back 20 years
or so. The average family had 2 children, one parent
who was the main income earner, and one home maker.
Generally speaking, the father went to work and provided
the income, and the mother stayed home to perform the
unpaid work of raising the kids, doing the washing and
making sure dinner was on the table and ready to eat
by 6.00pm sharp. There was a definite equilibrium of
balance.
Oh, how times have changed.
These days, it's almost a non-existent
notion that one parent works while the other looks after
the family. The average person is working longer hours
- 9 to 5 seems like something from the Stone Age. Employers
demand more, and employees wanting to further their
career happily oblige by increasing work loads and hours.
More than likely the main income earner will leave before
the kids wake up, and get home with dinner waiting in
the oven, just in time to tuck the little ones into
bed. Not to mention the secondary money puller, who
has to fit managing the household to working part-time.
In addition, the creation of single
parent families has steadily increased over the past
20 years which makes the challenge of earning sufficient
income and finding suitable child care that much more
difficult.
So how do we find the balance between
Work Life and Family Life? Everyone's perfect balance
is not so perfect for others, so there are two key factors
that will help you create the balance that's right for
your family.
1. Set Goals
You have probably heard it time and time again. If you
don't have any goals, how will you know where you are
going? What are you aspiring to achieve? More than likely
you have career goals and aspirations, so apply these
same principles into your home life. Start by writing
down and answering some simple questions.
a) What are your goals in relation to your family?
b) How would you ideally like to live your day, week,
month, year?
2. Set a Timetable
Time Management is vital to succeeding in balancing
your life. Once you have written down your goals, create
a 24hour timetable broken down into half hourly increments.
You can either increase or decrease the increments as
you go along, but this will give you a platform to start
with. Map out your day the way it is now. For example,
6.30 wake, shower and change; 7.00 breakfast; 7.30 out
the door.
When you have broken your day down, try and identify
pockets of time that can be used in areas that have
been defined in your goal setting - like helping with
your children's homework, spending time with your spouse,
time out by yourself etc. This may seem tedious, but
you would be surprised at how much time you will find
to work on your goals, and start creating and living
the balanced life you desire.
1howto.com
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