Work-life balance — we all crave it, yet it seems so incredibly difficult to achieve. It’s easy for us to say “it’s impossible… my job is just too demanding.” And that might be true. In today’s work-place climate, it’s all too easy for work to become a 24/7, all-consuming aspect of our lives. Yet, with very few exceptions, it likely doesn’t need to be this way.
How do you take the time to rest as a parent? Better yet, where will you find it? Research shows there are 4 types of active rest — that is, rest that requires you to carve out mere minutes or even seconds during the day — that any parent can master to feel more alert, focused, and present, no matter how sleep deprived.
While raising my daughter, I was baffled at how difficult is was for myself and other parents to know our roles when it came to our kid’s schoolwork. Were we meant to supervise and help them? If so, to what extent? Where was the line between helping them and doing it for them? And was it our job to ensure that it got done or theirs?
A friend once said that what she loves about travel, is that every time you go on a trip, you are changed forever. She is so right. We see and experience things when we go to places we’ve never been that simply cannot happen by armchair travel through a Google search. This summer, I had an extraordinary opportunity to go to Africa--and it was one of those trips that changed me in ways I am still synthesizing.
The moment we get busy, taking care of ourselves is usually the first thing to go as we put caring for others and job responsibilities first. Many of us take our bodies for granted, pushing ourselves to the limit, basically ignoring our physical and emotional needs until the body screams out and demands attention. But, what can we do to build healthy habits to go the distance? Here are three areas to focus on…..
As a parent, whether you are single or married, have one kid or ten, it’s not uncommon to feel totally isolated. Your only hope for managing the job comes from building a village of people with whom you can share the journey of being a parent. That includes practical support, like sharing carpool duties and pediatrician recommendations, and also emotional support…
For many people, breaking away from the gravitational pull of work is extremely difficult. Our drive to get things done, feel a sense of accomplishment, and succeed often keeps us working well past the point of diminishing returns. We find ourselves saying, “Let me just squeeze in one more thing from my to-do list and THEN I’ll go home for the day,” or “Once we get past these huge projects, THEN I’ll take a vacation.”
Teaching kids life skills is one of the primary responsibilities we parents have to our children: and yet, it can be such a tricky and emotionally charged area. Organizing, Time Management and Money Management are critical to life’s success, but aren’t typically taught in schools, or handed down easily from parent to child.
Your energy levels have a profound impact on your effectiveness. Think about it. Amongst your circle of friends, you can see the differences: there is the friend who is up at the crack of dawn, to the one who always hits a workout after 7pm, to the one wide-awake working on proposals well after midnight. Harnessing your energy cycles isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” conversation. So how do you figure yours out?
