Time Management Requires Creative Thought From Working Moms
If you’re a woman, the stress of being a mom, wife, and a working girl can create a real pressure cooker effect in your life. All facets are important to you, but which takes priority? To be successful in one’s career requires a considerable commitment of time and energy, leaving little time for the kids. You want to raise well-rounded children, and enjoy them while they’re growing up. But time flies! There’s daycare, followed by endless school and sports activities to attend.
And the wife role is the one everyone relies on, from the husband, to the children, to the teachers at school. Time must be found to shop and cook meals, clean the dishes and mop the floors. And there’s that huge pile of laundry that never seems to get any smaller. In the midst of all this, there never seems to be any time left over for the wife. There are some creative solutions to the problem. One answer is job sharing. More and more employers are allowing and encouraging this. Basically it amounts to two people sharing one job. The advantage to the employer embodies the concept that two heads are better than one, and it is assumed that the two workers will collaborate.
For instance, you work three days, your co-worker works two, and vice versa the following week. This is a great way to gain some extra time with your family, while satisfying the need to have a career. Find a group of several “mom” friends who’d be willing to start a “baby-sitting exchange”. Moms take turns watching each other’s children in exchange for baby-sitting services. This is time that might allow you to run an errand, have a date night with your husband, take time for a class or just breathe.
Consider taking a business like approach to your home. Work is a lot less crazy when you’re organized, right? Many working moms are starting to run their homes like a business - right down to utilizing an ‘inbox’ for important school papers and bills. Your Blackberry, Palm or cellphone/electronic planner can be a lifesaver when it comes to organizing your busy schedule.
The successful working mom will engage her spouse. For a few, this will be a piece of cake. For the rest, getting the husband to help out with household chores and the kids is an elusive dream. But, alas, keep on trying. He may not fold the towels, make the bed, or load the dishwasher ‘exactly’ as preferred. But if you can get him to do anything at all, just relax, enjoy a little extra free time, and appreciate him for his efforts, because that’s all there’s likely to be.
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