With a full time job, children, extracurricular activities, and household chores, it can be difficult to find time for yourself. You may often wish that the clock will stop so that you can accomplish everything. The truth is, it will never happen. With so many daily tasks, it is easy to become stressed, which can have a negative impact on your job, family, and your health.
As a working mother, the probability that your workload will decrease is unlikely, so learning to manage your time is the only way you will be able to balance your work and family life. There are some strategies that you can integrate into your life that will positively influence your ability to manage your life, but you must be prepared to make some changes.
You need to begin effective time management by making a list of your priorities. By knowing what you want to accomplish, you can help delegate your time. There are 4 D’s in time management: Do it, Delegate it, Dump it, and Defer it. If you can do the task great, but if not, think of someone that can help you, such as a spouse, older child, relative, or friend. If you determine that the task is not important, dump it so you can forget about it. If all else fails and it is something you have to do, try deferring it. Is it possible, it could wait till later?
Separate your work and motherhood responsibilities. While your children are important, you should focus on your job when you are at work; as well, as focusing on your children and not your job when you are at home. When you are at work, make you a to-do list for your job. As you accomplish tasks, you can strike through them. Completing several tasks can help make you feel successful on your job by the end of the day. When you get home from work, make you a to-do list at home, which may include cooking dinner, playing outside with kids, talking to your spouse, laundry, cleaning, paying bills, and other tasks you need to accomplish. You could delegate some household chores to your children or spouse. You can do the chores together which allows you to get them done, as well as spend time together. During this time, you can discuss your spouse’s work day, plans for next week, and child’s homework.
Talk to your family and friends about babysitting your children. While most babysitters may charge, if your babysitter also has children, offer to rotate weekends keeping the kids. This allows you and your spouse a day or weekend to yourself and in turn, you will watch the babysitter’s kids another day or weekend to give them some time by themselves. This may work great with other co-workers and mothers who work as many hours as you do. There is an incentive for free time for them in exchange to helping you.
Make a daily schedule. This will help you allot time for achieving all your goals within the same week. Without a schedule, it is easy to be distracted by family, friends, work, and other situations that arise within the course of a day. Try sticking to the schedule as much as possible. Mapping out your week can help you achieve small goals daily so that tasks do not bombard you.
Jennifer Nicole Allen - My name is Jennifer and I entered the freelance writing world in 2008. I enjoyed writing while an undergraduate student. I received my ...
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