How You Can Achieve a Better Work-Life Balance as a Parent Today
The elusive “work-life balance”: everyone talks about it, everyone wants it, but no one can honestly say they’ve ever achieved it.
Parents have had a particularly rough go of balancing work and child care responsibilities during the past year, so much so that the The New York Times described the pandemic as a “mental health crisis for parents.”
Work-life balance is always a moving target, and while navigating work from home and remote school, it feels like the rules have changed entirely. But professionals can design a less punishing, more sustainable schedule by creating a set of personal goals and being strategic with their time management.
Here are five tips for how parents can improve their work-life balance today and on the other side of this pandemic.
1. Set Your Own Goals for Work-Life Balance
There’s no single recipe for achieving a work-life balance in parenthood because everyone has different needs. And as you know, your kids’ needs are subject to change on a daily basis.
Managing your time is about prioritizing what’s important to you – it’s not about trying to replicate some CEO’s schedule that you read in a magazine.
So, start by asking yourself what you need:
What do I need to work better?
What do I need to rest better?
What do I need to support my children?
Do you need to finish work by 6pm every day to make the kids’ dinner? Do you miss your morning focus time that you had back in the office?
Once you define your time management obstacles in concrete terms, you’ll realize work-life balance isn’t some unattainable state of being, but rather an ongoing commitment to structuring your time in a way that works for you.
2. Clearly Define Home Responsibilities
As many of us are now home more, there’s more to do around the house, which can pile up on top of 9 to 5 work. When responsibilities aren’t clearly defined, it’s easy to end up doing extra chores during what’s supposed to be your personal down time.
It’s helpful to delineate home tasks between you and your family (and your kids) so that there’s no confusion about what needs to get done and by whom. It also ensures the work is split evenly. Assign and schedule duties for daily child care, cooking, cleaning, etc., and consider a rotation system every week or month.
3. Revisit Your Workday Schedule
Busy professionals know that just an extra 30 minutes can make a world of difference in the day. Your time might be more flexible than you think.
Evaluate your current calendar. Are you feeling Zoom fatigue? Are daily morning stand-ups necessary for the team? Don’t be afraid to discuss eliminating or shortening engagements that you honestly feel don’t serve you and your colleagues.
In addition to meetings, you need time for deep work: distraction-free periods when you can focus completely on your own work. If you have meetings staggered throughout the day, see if you can reschedule them to block out two hours of focused work each morning. Propose alternating child care shifts with other members of your household, or look into additional child care options.
Finally, find time each day for rest (which may or may not be a much-needed nap). Deep rest is just as important as deep work – it allows us to return to work focused and refreshed. Incorporating a lunchtime walk around the neighborhood or an afternoon stretching session can make a significant difference in your energy levels.
4. Lead by Example and Communicate with Your Team
If you’re a manager and wondering how you can improve your own work-life balance, chances are your colleagues feel the same way.
A culture of work-life balance can be created from the top down, especially on smaller teams. As you rearrange your own schedule, clearly communicate your obligations with both your teammates and the people you manage.
This visibility normalizes taking time away from work for child care and family duties and encourages your colleagues to do the same. It also encourages colleagues to be more understanding when you take actions to prioritize your parenting duties.
Make Time for Yourself at Home and at Work
We have an obsessive notion that working more is working hard, but that’s not really true. Research has shown that our IQ actually drops by 13 points when we’re in a state of “tunnel-vision busyness.”
When parents are intentional about how they spend their time and communicate their needs, they’ll find that work-life balance isn’t a destination, but rather an ongoing process.
Firmspace is committed to supporting work-life balance for parents. We offer day offices for any parent who needs a break from their home environment for deep work in a sleek and secure professional setting.
Learn more about our proworking spaces in Atlanta, Austin, Denver, and Houston.
Photo by Kevin Yudhistira Alloni on Unsplash