It is fantastic to know you can balance work if you organize your life the right way. Almost every day I field questions from friends, associates or co-workers about how to balance work, home, and everything. They wonder how I am able to keep all the balls in the air. Often they are looking for the magic bullet or secret potion that makes balance possible and easy. The fact is, there is no magic bullet, no secret potion. If you want to balance work and home it is hard, but it can be done. It is a matter of making hard choices, accepting that and sticking to the choices you make.
Here are five tools I use to balance things and keep it all together.
1. Use the calendar on your smartphone and set alarms.
2. Make a plan that includes your family.
3. Tell your family that they must respect your work hours.
4. Tell clients and co-workers they must respect your personal time.
5. Respect the schedule you create.
Use the calendar on your smartphone and set alarms. Almost every working mother in America has some kind of smart phone. It doesn’t matter what kind you have and you do not need to invest in yet another app or program. Instead, use the calendar to set aside time for each of your tasks. Sit down with a list of all you need to get done and find a spot for it in your calender. If you cannot find a spot for it in the calendar, you cannot do it so keep moving and adjusting until you have fit in or eliminated everything on your list. When you add the items to your calendar, two alarms. One alarm should be set 10 minutes before the task is due to start. That way you have a warning to start wrapping up the prior task. Set the next alarm when the task is set to start so you can stop one task and start the next.
Make a plan that includes your family. Take a realistic look at your day. Do not plan important phone calls when your children are up and running around. Do not plan dinner for a conference call or Google+ hangout time. Your family is important. For most of us, the reason we work is to be able to do things with and for our family. Do not ignore family obligations like meals, sports, dishes, laundry and the like. Those things have to be done and you have to find time to do them. So, put them on the schedule to be sure they don’t get forgotten.
Tell your family that they must respect your work hours. This is particularly important for WAHM (work at home moms). Whatever your office hours are, you must let your family know and then actually work during those hours. If your family sees you at the computer or your work area working during office hours, they will respect your work. On the other hand, if they see you watching television or having girl talk with your friends during work hours, they will not respect your work or your work hours. In order to balance everything successfully, you must train your family to understand and respect that you work at home and that they must leave you alone to work just as if you worked at an outside office.
Tell clients and co-workers they must respect your personal time. You cannot balance work and home if you do not place boundaries on work. In particular, you must let your clients and co-workers know that your personal time belongs to you and not to them. You must explain that you are better able to work for your clients and to perform at work when you have personal time away from the job. You must make it clear that your personal time is not an option, it is not something that happens when work permits. You must make it clear that your personal time is important, valuable and must be respected.
Respect the schedule you create. Keep in mind that you took time to create your schedule. You worked hard to find time for all you have to do personally and professionally. You have everything set up on your calendar. You made a plan. The plan is a realistic plan, a workable plan. This means you must follow the plan. When the alarms on your calendar program go off and tell you to move from one task to the next, get moving.
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In conclusion, it is fantastic to know you can balance work if you organize your life the right way. So, the question for you this fantastic day is, are you going to talk about it or are you going to actually balance your life?
Balance is much easier when boundaries are in place. Letting others know what to expect – and not to expect – from us makes a big difference. Of course, we must develop the discipline to sticking to those schedules, too! Great post!
I have so many alarms on my phone it’s not funny. Wake up, take a break, end of work day, haha. Sometimes they just don’t work though. My family for the most part does respect my work hours, it seems to be myself that doesn’t. I’m still working on my work-life balance.
I really need to use these tips! Some days I just can’t catch up 🙁
I remember my old day planners and when I grew up and started using them for work I felt like a big shot.
This is an area of my life I am really working on right now. I am traveling a lot with the boys right now still trying to keep up with work and their schooling. It is all a bit overwhelming.
I love the tips, especially about telling clients to respect personal time.
I’m so old school and have never used technology to set date reminders. I actually write them on a weekly schedule.
I would be lost without my smart phone calendar and alerts!
I need to try the alarm idea. That’s a good idea to keep you on task.
I like being able to use my phone calendar especially setting my alarm a full day in advance to remind me.
I love using my smart phone calendar, I like that I can set my alarm a full day in advance.
I definitely like to use the clock on my phone. My family also seems to respect my work hours a lot more now – they even help. 🙂
Getting my family to respect my anything might be tough. They think that I’m available to them 24hrs.
I love having a calendar on my computer that syncs with my phone. Just makes life so much easier.
Great advice! I think the respect of hours is extremely important, especially with social media. When people see you on social media they assume you are available, you have to definitely inform them that you are not.
Great tips! Using my smartphone and computer calendar are lifesavers for me 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
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I really need to work on my work life balance. It’s going to be harder when my second child gets here in December but I know I will find some way to manage.
Grat tips! I’ve recently started using my phone calendar to help keep organized.
I so need to start using my phone calendar I mean i carry my phone everywhere I go and yet I use a pocket calendar in my bag, makes no sense really.
These are GREAT tips! I love using my calendar alarm for “stand up and walk” reminders! Keeps me active and the change of scenery helps with not getting stuck!
I really need to get better about setting a schedule. Right now there is a lot of stuff going on and it is always hectic!
I love using a family calendar so everyone knows what is happening.
Family is important in creating a good balance. Great post.
Yes things can get done if we just make the time to do them, and stick to our schedules and plans.
ALL these tips hit a chord with me! As a work from home Mom-preneur you have to be extra disciplined and these tips simply do make it easier! Thanks for sharing
I am HORRIBLE with entering data in my ical. I seriously need one like they have at the hair dressers with multiple colored pens so I can keep track of everything.
I am better with keeping my “work hours” but my “blogging hours” are all over the place.
I have set certain hours and strictly stick to them. It has been a tremendous help.
It’s definitley not easy, but sticking to a schedule definitely helps me!