Work Life Balance For Dummies by Katherine Lockett

Author:Katherine Lockett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Wiley
Published: 2012-02-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

Putting the Life into Your Work/Life Balance

In This Chapter

Making dinner kids’ time

Surviving the family holiday

Enjoying weekends

Working for the community

When you think of work/life balance you can fall into the trap of making sure that you meet your commitments at work and have enough time for home — only to fall into a heap when you walk through the front door.

This chapter discusses what areas of your home life are important to ensure you have genuine work/life balance that’s right for you. Simple activities like eating meals together around the table can bring your family closer together. Valuing the assistance from grandparents and good child-care providers also eases the burden of responsibilities. Your work/life balance is also restored when you take regular holidays and I discuss how important a holiday is to your health and wellbeing. No job is so important that you’re required to work 365 days a year to get it done.

Another significant factor in your work and life is being able to contribute to your community. Communities need help and you can offer yours. This chapter provides you with ideas of how you can contribute, including asking for days off, sponsored by your employer, to giving up a couple of precious hours to create something on your computer for a community project.

Doing Time for the Kids

The concept of quality time (how well you spend your time with your children rather than how much time you spend) is something you have heard and read about for years. Trying to get all the members of your household in the same place at the same time can be that difficult. However, when you rush between work, school, sports and social commitments, and feel as though you’re holding down a second job (with housework, cooking, pet care, helping with homework and sticking to bedtime routines), it’s no wonder you collapse when you arrive home from the office.

Getting back to basics, such as eating dinner together, involving grandparents with the children and turning off the television to talk to each other, are some strategies you can try to find unstructured time that enables you all to stop rushing around and, instead, spend some real time together.

Families that work well

Families are no longer just Mum, Dad and the kids. Families these days have many variations. Whatever the structure of your family, the people in it are the most important part of your personal life. They affect everything you do — including your working life. Studies show that healthy families make time for talking and listening, show affection and encouragement, accept differences, share chores and decisions, keep in touch and make time to be together.

Making time for talking and listening

Talking with your kids is as important as paying the mortgage and making sure that the house is relatively clean. By talking, I don’t mean nagging, something I find myself doing far too often. Think back to how you felt as a child. The people you connected with best were most likely the ones who listened to what you had to say.

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