As business women and loving moms, my friends and I are always trading tips on how to make the most of work and home life. Here are a few tips that I’ve implemented recently that have helped us find balance and hope they’ll work for you:
- Make sure your kids know you like the work you do. Most parents default to making their work sound boring or like a burden. …but what message does that send to your kids? “You’d rather go to a boring job than spend time with me?” Instead, be sure they know how inspiring your work is or what great results you get from it. I tell my kids “I’ve got to go help some working moms find success in career and happiness with their kids.” For you it may sound more like, “I’m off to change minds about why they should choose to buy things from our company over others.” or “I’m off to court to make sure the good guys win.” or “I’m headed out to build my business that will make our lives better for years to come.” You get the idea. Make it your own.
- Put down the PDA for at least an hour a night. First of all this will give you an hour of quality time with your family where you are actively engaged in what they are saying or doing. Enjoy this time with your kids and be sure you talk about something cool or do something interesting during this time. Second, the implied suggestion here is to wait to reply to work emails until your kids aren’t around. As such, you will be more focused when you do reply and provide a much higher quality response. This trick isn’t just for your family, it will enhance your personal brand at work too!
- Share your short and long-term career goals with your family. Sharing your goals with your family gives your kids something to be proud of as you achieve them. This also enables your spouse, your kids, and others to be more sympathetic when you ask them to do things around the house. Knowing your goals may make your spouse more likely to do more dishes or grocery shopping and your kids quicker at getting ready in the morning. For example, our kids will take forever to brush their teeth, put on their shoes, etc when getting ready in the morning. I feel like I have to ask them 20 times. However, if I know I have a particularly early meeting I need to get to and my husband isn’t able to take them that morning, I explain to the kids the night before that “Tomorrow is an early day. Mommy has a big meeting and we’ll need to be super fast getting ready in the morning.” The next morning I again remind them of my meeting and that today is a “super-fast get ready day.” Now I can’t use it every day, but when I do, they get ready in a third of the time that they normally do with far less whining. 🙂
For more tips on how to continue rising in your career/business while balancing a happy family, click here scheduleonce.com/suzodonnell30min to sign-up for a 30-minute strategy session with founder of Thrivatize and author of The Career-Family Formula, Suz O’Donnell**
If you have any questions, please email my team at Info@ThrivatizePartners.com.
I hope we are able to connect!
Suz O’Donnell, Founder and President of Thrivatize LLC
Increasing Diversity at the Top!.
**Suz has received rave reviews from participants at Google, Motorola, Grant Thornton, Capgemini, and many more. She helps you to focus on getting what you want for yourself, your family, and your career.
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