How easy is it to juggle work and the household? Is it even possible? I am sure you have asked yourself this question, and received different answers at different stages of your life. I love my family as well as what I do at work. So how do I manage to keep the balance?
Balancing work and home-life is tricky and at times frustrating. This is because there are so many things to be done and they have to be done right in a very short time. Is prioritizing between work and home enough? Or is being good at time management enough?
What are the prerequisites to do this balancing act?
I have found that they are:
- Setting priorities
- Support of family and team
- Setting boundaries on family & work time (or effective time management) and
- Compromise
To manage both worlds, I feel, having a good understanding of what are Family time and Work time is of utmost importance. When you are with your family try not to think about work and concentrate on having a good time with the family.
So, what role does support of family and team play in this balancing act? I work in a production support project, and there are times when you work through the night or even through the weekend. It does take a toll on your family life. It would be very difficult to support a client during critical times without the support of the family.
We all may have come across situations where the home front is calling for your attention even as you have commitments to meet at work. At this point you need to have the support of your team leaders and team members to concentrate on the family. This is also where the “Work-From-Home” option can be beneficial.
Managing work and home may even enhance and strengthen each other, but unfortunately most of the time, it ends up in stress. Every person will have a unique way of de-stressing. Some find the smiles of their children great de-stressors. Others might find that spending some personal time, like going out for movie with a friend, helpful. In short, taking a break from the routine is an excellent way to de-stress.
One of the good things about working is I am able to appreciate the issues that a spouse goes through. There are times when your spouse has to work late and you are able to support the spouse better if you yourself have gone through the pressures of working life.
Is your work demanding too much, and at the expense of your family? After all, we are working to ensure that we provide our next generation with a more secure and better life than ours. But what is most valuable to the growth of the young generation is time spent with the parent. I make sure that the time spent with my family is used wisely e.g. instead of watching TV, I try talking to them. I find out what they did during the day or tell them what I did at work. These discussions, I think, will help all parties understand the pressures of every-day life.
If we do not get the balance correct, we will experience lots of stress and not be able to do justice to both fronts. So remember to keep your personal life at home and work life at work and provide the same support to team/family members that you expect to get from them. This will help create a better balance between the demands of the job and the healthy management (and enjoyment) of life outside work.
Have you given a thought to the rewards of doing this juggling act? I know I will never achieve the perfect balance of work and home-life, but I try my best. I feel both my work and home-life have given me a reason to smile at the end of the day and feel satisfied that I am able to utilize my education and experience to the best possible extent.
Note : I wrote this article few years back,but published it now 🙂
