How to Find the Balance between a Professional Career and a Home and Family Life

A common struggle for people who have professional careers is the demand for their time. Their employer wants them to dedicate their energy and time to their jobs, and oftentimes require this dedication for promotions and bonuses. Their family members also want to get attention and quality time. A busy professional often feels like they are in the middle of a tug of war being pulled in both directions at the same time.

If you feel this kind of struggle, there are some ways that you can help reduce this tug of war. You probably cannot eliminate this struggle completely, but following these suggestions may help.

A lot of the tug of war is due to our indecision and ambivalence about our time. We want to spend more time at work to meet the deadline, and we want to spend more time with our children. It is important to think about a fair method for distributing our time, come up with a plan.

Only then can you set your boundaries and set them firmly. If you want to attend each of your son's soccer games, then explain to the boss that you won't be available on Thursday evenings, and then actually leave to go to the game. The boss will be required to work around your schedule.

Sometimes the struggle between work and family gets exaggerated by other commitments as well. The PTA needs some cookies for the bake sale and the ceiling fans needs to be dusted. If you can find a way to reduce spending time on these other things, you may be able to find more time to spend on the things that are your priority items.

To reduce these other commitments, you can consider hiring out some of these services by getting a maid, find faster ways of meeting the requests by buying already made cookies, or asking your family members to do their fair share of the chores.

There are so many opportunities in the world that there is no way for you to accept them all. Sometimes you have to decline your participation in some events, at least for the time being. Even though joining a book club would help you expand your knowledge and get some socialization, if it is stressful for you to read the book and attend the meetings, you may have to forgo the club until your schedule changes.

It is very stressful to be pulled in so many different directions. Be sure to take some time off to do things that are pleasurable to you. Take some time off to spend with friends, go shopping by yourself at a leisurely pace, take a bubble bath or whatever it is that makes you feel relaxed. Take a short vacation with or without the kids.

You will find that a short period of time away will give you a chance to breathe and relieve some of your stress. You will be able to resume your life with more peace and a calmer state of being.

Sometimes throughout all this stress, it is difficult to remember that the problem is likely to be a temporary one. Once the project at work is finished, things will be less stressful, at least for a little while until the next deadline. The children will grow up and become more independent over time. Keeping the big picture in perspective, and knowing that things are constantly changing will help you let the little things slide.

Remember that you do not have to be the best cook or mother or worker. In most cases, average is actually quite acceptable. Exceed in the things that are your highest priority, and be average in the ones that are not.

The five suggestions listed in this article will help you face the conflict and demands of your time from so many different sources.

Set Boundaries

Get Help

Say No

Take Time Off

Fix Your Attitude