Work-Life Balance for Work-From-Home Parents
As working from home became more normalized, it became attainable for parents of young children to "have it all" as far as family and career. But, there is a delicate balance that is required to truly enjoy pursuing both simultaneously. While it is no secret that organization helps across the board, I want to share some tips that are realistic and easy to implement so that you can really maximize your work-life balance. These tips are ideal for any parents who may be trying to juggle kids at home, household management, personal time and work!
1. Make a daily schedule/routine
While it may seem rudimentary to stick to a schedule, I promise taking it a few steps further is worth the trouble. You can start by mapping out a typical day in your household starting with your wake-up time and ending with either the end of your business day, which is what works for us, or take your schedule all the way to bedtime. This schedule can be formatted in 30-minute to 1-hour blocks, whichever you prefer. Things to account for in your daily schedule include:
Any personal or hygiene tasks that your kids are responsible for
Meals and snacks
Screen time
Chores
Anything else that may be a priority routinely
For working parents, one of the keys is to create blocks of time for your kids to stay occupied, whether that be with reading, an activity like blocks, drawing, or play-doh, or nap times, during the day that you are most likely to take meetings or professional calls. This method also allows you to block out your work calendar for the times of day that you may need to be more hands-on with your kids. Here is an example of the schedule that our household uses daily. This is what works for us, but I encourage you to structure your days in a way that makes the most sense for your household.
2. Plan your week ahead of time
I am a HUGE fan of what I like to call an "admin day". This is a day that you dedicate towards meal planning, grocery planning, assignment and activity planning, scheduling, meal prepping, errands, and anything other tasks that help to keep your household running. I take a full day, as a homeschooling, freelancing mom it takes me that much time to keep the show running. However, your admin time may only need to be a couple of hours, depending on what you're coordinating weekly. When I worked full time, my admin day was on Sunday, but now that I freelance, I block my Mondays for my admin day. My priorities on "admin day" include:
Laying out our weekly schedule, including any appointments and playdates
Correspondence like emails, phone calls, and texts that I have been meaning to return.
Meal planning and drafting our grocery list
Sams, Costco and/or Aldi runs
Meal and snack prepping, if needed
Laundry, if needed
If your admin day falls on the weekend, be sure to block an hour on your calendar during the week for correspondence and scheduling for doctor appointments. I also like to make sure I do any birthday prep for family birthdays, including marking my calendar and ordering gifts.
3. Keep "anytime" snacks available
This idea (that my best friend swears by!) may already be implemented in some capacity in a lot of households. Some have individual bins, per kid, that are preloaded with what they're allotted for the day, but the format that works best for us is a true "anytime" snack bin for the household. The idea is that you have snacks that you are comfortable with your kids having available any time of the day, without them having to ask. Things like pre-washed fruit, yogurt, string cheese, and meat sticks, and I also include any baked goods that I have prepped for the week. Depending on your grocery budget and your kids' dietary needs or preferences, packaged snacks can also be included. This practice helps kids to honor their hunger cues if they happen to fall in between scheduled snack and meal times, and keeps the constant nagging for snacks to a minimum since they know that they can have those snacks anytime.
4. Plan your quality time
Scheduling quality time does not make it any less special. When trying to balance work, home, and kids, it can be so easy to get swept up in the day-to-day and forget to really connect with your family. Planning quality time can really be as simple as setting one evening per week aside for family time. During that time, I encourage you to be device-free, enjoy a meal or treat, and be present in the moment with your family. You can cook together, play a board game, do a puzzle, read together, or have a movie night. These types of laid-back family nights are fun, relaxing, and incredibly budget-friendly. One thing that I like to do to give my kids some one-on-one is to rotate taking one of them at a time with me to run errands. I take advantage of having them to myself in the car and I ask them questions about themselves, school, or life and it makes for some quality conversations. If the budget allows, I like to also stop for a small treat like a drink or maybe even a sweet, and we just sit together and see where the conversation takes us.
5. Delegate. Seriously...
While your job is solely your responsibility, running your household doesn't have to be! Delegating is an art, because sometimes it can feel like it takes longer to request a task be taken care of than to just do it yourself, but there is a pay-off to pulling your partner and your kids into your household management. By delegating chores or daily tasks like feeding pets, watering plants, checking mail, etc, to your kids you are teaching them fundamentals that they will carry with them as they mature. One day, they will need to be able to care for their own households so learning early gives them a great head start. One way that I make this easier on myself is that I created a chore binder that has a step-by-step how-to for each chore that I may ask of them. (I used time during one of my admin days to list them all and print them out!) So when I ask one of them to clean a bathroom, they grab the binder, flip open to the Bathroom Cleaning Checklist, and follow the instructions. Again, the goal is to minimize the questions and help them accomplish the task consistently each time. The chore binder is also a great way to align expectations within the household, including with a partner.
6. Prioritize Self Care!
I know. Easier said than done, but hear me out, okay? It is impossible to feel balanced when you put yourself on the back burner. Even if everything else is going well, you will still be left feeling drained. Self-care looks different for everyone, and the first step is really understanding your own needs. Self-care for you could look like waking earlier than your household for coffee and journaling, maybe it's taking time to move your body during the day or maybe it's taking an hour after your kids go to bed once a week to enjoy a nice long bath or shower. If you need to give your kids 30 minutes of screen time to accomplish this, it is still more than worth it! If you truly don't feel like you have the time or ability to dedicate to self-care, just build in the time to your other daily tasks, like applying a face mask while you brush your teeth, or a 10-minute meditation/reflection session when you go to sleep at night. Every little bit of time you dedicate to prioritizing your own needs is so valuable.
Work-life balance can be tricky for working parents. The nature of your job and schedule can determine what is attainable for your particular household, and what I have shared are just a few of the things that work within my household. Implementing one or all of these tips can get you one step closer to feeling like a well-oiled machine, feel free to use them as is, or use them as a jumping-off point to get things rolling in your household!
