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As the summer winds down and children are heading back to school, the entire family begins adjusting to a new fall schedule. For parents, it is somewhat of a relief. Their kids will now be occupied throughout the day, and they will not have to be concerned about making sure their children are active during the last days of summer. However, this time of year also brings with it some additional stress as school activities often times coincide with working hours or vice versa.
Alas, time-management and work-life balance re-emerges as a very important component in your life! It can be quite challenging sometimes to strike the right balance as you juggle work and your child's school sporting events, recitals, debates and other special activities in which they participate. Certainly it is important to be accountable and committed to your job to perform well, but it is equally, if not more important to give the necessary attention and focus to your child's development and nurturing. Of course this includes your presence at many events in which they are active at school. However, your involvement in their development goes well beyond activities that take place on the school grounds. Children need your involvement at home as well. They need you to help them with their homework or to help them bake cookies to bring to school or to act as the sounding board for ideas they have. Regardless of the situation, they need YOU. Your job and your boss need YOU too.
So how do you make it work...how do you find that just-right balance? It takes time to find that balance. In addition, that balance may change from year to year as your work and family circumstances change as well. Thus, it is an on-going, evolving and unique process specific to you. Just as no two children are alike, neither are families exactly alike, so each one must determine what works best for them depending on their given situation.
Yes, sometimes you may feel overwhelmed by all of the "to-do's" for which you have committed or for which you are responsible, but sometimes it is just a matter of learning to say no. Women often times have more difficulty saying no than men do because they historically have been viewed as the caretakers for everyone and everything. Until they became a prominent force in the workplace, they were not typically seen as leaders in a business environment. In past times they were always there to assist others, whether at work or with a school activity. They would pitch in for the good of the team. However, when a woman or anyone else for that matter, is over-committed, something suffers. By saying yes whenever something is requested of you, inevitably you are also saying no to something else. That something else can be work or family related; it doesn't really matter. What matters is how you approach it. This is where the challenge lies in finding that right balance for you and your personal situation.
It is important to have conversations with your employer and your family about the importance each plays in your life and your desire to honor your commitments to them. With some managers waiting to have children until they have established themselves in the workplace, your supervisor may be facing the same challenges of balancing work and family life. Regardless, by telling your boss and your family how you expect to manage your time between work and personal obligations, you are paving the way for clarification and further discussion if particular issues need to be addressed. In this way, you can plan better for upcoming projects of a business and personal nature, especially if arrangements need to be made in advance.
Isn't it amazing how it always comes back to communication!
Wishing you much success,
Laura
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