Juggling a career and parenthood isn’t easy. It’s important that the two don’t negatively affect one another. It’s also important that beyond your work duties and parental duties, you’re also getting free time for yourself. Below are a few tips on how to find the right work/life balance as a parent.
Talk to your employer about your needs as a parent
Most employers will be understanding of your needs as a parent – providing that you communicate these needs. If you are struggling to spend quality time with your kids because you work long hours away from home, talk to your employer and see if they can adjust your hours or possibly allow you to work from home on certain days. If your job requires you to work irregular hours and this is making it hard to arrange childcare, an employer may also be willing to let you work fixed hours – even if other employees aren’t given this privilege.
It’s important that you constantly communicate your changing needs as a parent in advance. If your child is about to start school and you need to start work a little later in order to do the school run, let your employer know a few weeks before. If you’ve got a school play that you need to attend, let your employer know in advance. Don’t get into a bad habit of telling your employer last minute as they’ll be less sympathetic if they then have to make last minute arrangements to cover you.
Explore different childcare options
It’s important that you find reliable child care that you can trust. You may be able to rely on friends or family members. Alternatively, you may be able to organize shifts around your partner’s shifts so that they can look after your child when you’re working (just make sure that the two of you are still getting couple time).
If this isn’t an option, you’ll need to look into childminders or daycare facilities. If money is a problem, you may be able to get financial aid to help with child care. If you have trouble putting trust in strangers, consider getting to know a childminder first or finding a daycare facility that allows you to observe for the first couple sessions.
Spend quality time with your kids
It’s important that you get to spend quality time with your kids. If you often go to work before your kids are up and come back home after they have gone to sleep, it could be essential that you make adjustments to your work schedule so that you’re not going days without seeing your kids. Cutting down your hours so that you get home earlier or finding a more flexible work schedule could allow you to spend time with your kids in the morning or the evening each day. Make sure that this time isn’t spent rushing around and that you have time to play with your kids and talk to them.
Plan weekly time for yourself
It’s essential that all your time isn’t taken up by parenthood or work. Consider planning free time for yourself each week – this could be time for meeting friends (without kids), keeping up hobbies or simply relaxing.
