Photo by Quang Nguyen Vinh via Pexels

by mikkie mills, guest contributor

Having a highly demanding job and maintaining a happy family can often seem nearly impossible. Some days are great, and you balance your work and life with perfection; other days are complete disasters as you rush late to pick your kids up from school, and your presentation goes down the drain. Unfortunately, there are no magic spells or recipes to help you constantly achieve the perfect work-life balance, but here are a few tips on making it easier to spend time with your family when you have a demanding job.

Team Up With Your Partner or Use Your Village 

Some days, you might find it easy to hang your scrubs at the front door, and on others, your boss will live rent-free in your brain all evening, leaving you no room to focus on your family. You must have heard the saying, “it takes a village,“ and it does. Get all the help you need, and do not be afraid to say yes when people offer. Work something out with your partner. Talk about who is doing the shopping and laundry. Work as a team, reduce the number of chores and get more time for family fun. Outsource if you can, and get the food delivered and the cleaning and laundry done by professionals. It will make your life drastically easier.

Schedule Your Work Time and Your Family Time

Set up boundaries with your work. Plan your schedule. Talk to your boss about working a shorter week or remotely. You might feel intimidated to ask, but you should not. Working longer hours does not make anyone more productive. In fact, it may do the opposite. Employees who are happier outside of their job produce better work. Bring those arguments to your boss and convince them that they are investing in their business by allowing you more time for your family. Schedule the time you spend with your family the same way. Plan and set up family time in your schedule.

Turn Off Your Phone, Shut Down Your Work

Leave your professional life outside of your home. Turn your phone off and focus on your family. Find a way to make the time you spend together count. You can join local classes, make dinner together, and find activities for everyone to enjoy. You should be fully present and not distracted by work emails and phone calls. There is no reason why you should work outside of your work hours, so take a deep breath and let it go. You can answer your emails on the next workday.

Plan a Vacation

Taking extended time off is beneficial for both body and mind. Plan vacations with your family, choose together and get everyone excited and looking forward to it. The trips you will take with your family will bring you closer together, help you bond, and create happy memories for everyone to cherish.

Practice Self-care

Putting your oxygen mask on before helping others is what you hear in airplane safety presentations. It is valid for everyday life as well. Make sure to take care of yourself, get your time to relax, and recharge. You can do whatever works for you, like reading a book, going on a solo walk, or taking a kids-free night out with friends and wine. To each their own, so long as the result is the same at the end of the day. Take care of yourself, your body, and your mind, and show up happier for your family and job.

To conclude, finding a good and healthy work-life balance is one of the most challenging things to achieve because life is so unpredictable, but there are some habits you can adopt to make it easier for you and your family. One of the best pieces of advice you can get, though, is to be easy on yourself and go with the flow!

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