How often do you feel that you are hopping from one role to another without being conscious about it? Does your day go on autopilot mode? If these have been your recent experiences, it might be obvious to feel exhausted and stuck in the vicious cycle to meet your professional and family needs. Work-life balance is the ability of an individual to manage work and their personal commitments.
While we are working from home and creating workspaces at home, children can feel their parent’s absence while they are physically present at home. Emotional bonding and spending quality time with children becomes even more important for young ones where they have limited spaces to socialize and play. Though there are immense benefits to have a work-life balance for parents and child’s well-being and development, how to achieve this balance remains a question for all. Here are few suggestions that might benefit you to create that balance and lead a meaningful and happy life.
Time management
Though time is something we are always short of, managing time available can be fruitful. Learning to make a to-do list that includes all important and urgent work to be done on a day. Often times our work is dependent on others, here creating a channel of communication where we negotiate the timings and follow the schedule can be of great use.
Boundary setting
Boundary setting was convenient in the offline mode but with the online scenario demarcating the professional and personal boundaries has been difficult. A mail or a message that includes the conclusion of your day at the same time sets the goal for the next day can be useful for others to know that your work hours are over and it’s time to declutter.
Switching from work to family mode
It’s not easy to leave the work thoughts behind and go to children afresh. A good way to switch can be devoting few minutes to yourself where you invest in deep breathing exercises, reading a book/article, listening to music, or grabbing a beverage of your choice. This will help you to come back to the present moment and be more active with children.
Practicing a ritual with children
Practicing a small ritual that excites the children to practice every day can have a positive impact on the parent-child relationship. For instance, reading a story to the bed, feeding the pet together, watering plants, watching a show together, or maintaining a gratitude journal can all be part of this small ritual.
Thus, it is important for parents and their well-being to create a positive and healthy environment for the child. Share your experiences with us in the comments section.
Author: Sharanya Nair
