Realwomen.co.nz

So how do you achieve a good balance in your life between work and family and time for yourself?

This is most likely one of the most frequently asked questions of the last few decades. These days a mother is most often a working mother due to the economic realities of modern life.  It is almost impossible to raise a family, pay off a mortgage and enjoy a good standard of living without both parents working.

Along with an increased workload, the working mum often finds she is still the main person responsible for the household chores and often finds that between work and household chores, there is no time left to unwind and do something just because she enjoys it.

You know when you are finding it tough to cope when something small breaks down in your daily routine and you find you just can’t deal with it. Perhaps the babysitter is sick or the car breaks down when you are on your way to an important meeting.

So how do you make the many responsibilities of your life a little easier to manage?

Here is my ‘good ideas’ list of ways to achieve a better balance between, work, home and me:

• Realise that balancing the roles of being a mother, a business-person and me is a job in itself. I need to have a pat on the back occasionally for keeping it all working smoothly.
• Take a little time to plan your week ahead and make sure you fit in some time in for relaxing.
• Don’t be afraid to be creative in your solutions, just because something may not meet others’ approval does not mean it isn’t the right solution for you.
• Remember to think about yourself – your needs, your wants, your happiness, if you aren’t feeling happy and satisfied, the other parts of your life will just be burdens.
• Be flexible in your ideas, because something works for you this week does not mean it will next week, don’t be afraid to try things differently.
• Be aware of signs of imbalance such as fatigue, resentment, depression, unhappy family or dissatisfaction with work.
• Revisit your core values and live them, keep in mind what is most important to you.
• Remove – delegate some of the things that interfere with what is important to you.
• Believe – have faith that things can work – don’t put up barriers in front of possibilities, you can make it work.
• Enjoy the process, don’t look on it as just another thing that must be done.  Look on it as something that needs to be done so you can enjoy being you.

Comments (0)