If you are a working parent, you know how difficult it can be to manage taking care of your children and keeping up with your own job. According to a study done by the University of Manchester, women who were working and who had two children were 40% more stressed due to all of the responsibilities that they had to take on each day.
It can be tough to balance your work and your personal life, but it is possible to make this happen. A bit of planning and implementing will help make this happen. Some of the best tips for life balance for working parents include:
Learn Time Management
Nothing is going to happen if you can’t learn some basic time management techniques. You can use a family planner, consider time-boxing techniques, or choose another method that will help you get more done. You may need to try a few different options to figure out which one will stick for you and helps you most to be more productive.
Prioritize Your Family
There is plenty of research out there that shows that when both parents are busy with their professional work and do not dedicate time to their kids, it can have a negative impact on the well-being of their kids. No matter how difficult it can be, you need to prioritize your family. The time management techniques above can really help you get this done so that you can strengthen the bonds with your family and raise happy and healthy kids too.
Delegate the Household Chores
No matter the age of your kids, they can take the time to help out around the home. You do not need to go to work all day and then come home and try to keep the home cleaned and organized. You can ask your kids to help out to get it all done. Set out chore lists based on the age of the kids and hold them responsible for getting it all done during the day. You can be there to help and teach them how to get it done, but everyone in the home needs to participate and help.
Learn the Art of Saying No
Setting professional and personal boundaries is important for working parents to make sure they do not burnout from doing too much. One way to do this is to turn off all work-related notifications when you come back from work. Checking email during that time can interfere with your family time and can just add some more stress to your time as a family. You may also need to say no occasionally to your kids. They do not need to be in 10 activities each, for example.
Remember the Self-Care and Self-Love
It is hard to give your all to work and to your family if you have no energy left to do it. You will need to take a bit of time for self-love to ensure that you are not going to run out of energy. Whether it is a nice bath at the end of the day, a personal day off, or something else, a few minutes a day is going to be enough to help you feel better and can ensure that you feel amazing enough to keep up with all of those responsibilities.
Ask for Support
There are times when you need a break, or an emergency will show up, or something else will go on and you need some help. It is fine to lean on your support group a bit in order to help get it all done. Whether you ask your family to come watch the kids for a date night or a friend to pick up some groceries, you will find that asking for help can lessen your burden and make it easier for you to manage your workload and all the responsibilities of raising kids.
