Strategies for Balancing Work and Family

Here are some suggestions for balancing work and family. Different things will work for different families, depending on the individuals and their situations.
Get in touch with your values. Think about what you want from life for you and your family.

How does work fit into that?
Set Priorities. Decide, based on your values, what tasks are important and which are less important. This means more than saying your family comes before work. It means deciding what activities come first. Review your priorities every month. Ask yourself whether you are accomplishing your goals.

Take time to shift from work to family. It usually takes 15-20 minutes to shift gears from work to family. Use the time on the way home to clear your head. Try making tomorrow's "to do" list at the close of the work day. Listen to music you enjoy as you travel. Use the drive home to forget about work and concentrate on family. Try to avoid bringing work home. Take a 15-minute break to change clothes and make the shift.

Take care of your physical health. This makes you better able to withstand emotional and physical stress.

Plan and work efficiently. Use schedules to manage your time more efficiently at work - you will find that you accomplish much more during your working hours and may not need to stay back late. Similarly, plan times at home as well. Make the most of time spent together with the family, for instance by working together to accomplish tasks around the house. If you have to drop your kids at school or the bus stop, use that time to chat with them and get closer to them.

Nurture your relationships. Take time to nurture the relationship with your spouse. Support one another in family and job responsibilities. Be willing to listen to each other's concerns about work and family. Take time to nurture your relationships with your children too - and other family members.

Share responsibility for family work. There is much work to be done at home - parenting, housework, managing schedules...... sharing the family work load contributes to feelings of fairness and equity among family members.
Be willing to talk about conflicts and negotiate. Some conflict between schedules is unavoidable. Be willing to discuss concerns and compromise. You might find that you need to try out different schedules, different ways to do household tasks, or reduce some of your less important activities.

Seek support from your employer. Ask your employer about your options for flexibility on the job. For example, perhaps you can work fewer hours some days and make it up later, work part-time, share a job with someone else, or do paid work at home. Perhaps you can work any time of the day or night, as long as you get the job done. Talk about what is possible in your situation. It may not be much, but find out what you can do.

Build a support network. Talking with others about their work-family stress and how they cope can help us with our own situations. Try establishing a support group at work or in your neighbourhood to talk about your feelings and discuss strategies that you've used for managing stress.