Managing projects at home and at work requires active management to ensure that both receive the time and attention they need for success. Every day will be different. Some days your kids will need you more and work will require more other days. Read ahead if you are feeling constantly behind, running from place to place with no time to catch your breath, stressed about failing at work and at home. Schedule your free consultation to help you be present at home and focused at work.
SCHEDULE AGGRESSIVELY
Aggressive scheduling is the key to ensuring that all of your priorities are accounted for in the day. Break it down weekly. Every Friday, write down your priorities for the next week. These need to be both professional and personal. Kid's concerts, meetings, play dates, program deadlines, birthday parties, reports. The list will be long. Put everything into your calendar. Make sure that everything has its designated time. Using 15 minute blocks helps you refine the exact time each priority will take. Block off a reasonable amount of time to accomplish each task.
Now move to strategic initiatives. These are things that require time and attention to be accomplished but the exact time of day can be flexible. This can include exercise, meditation, strategic planning sessions, quality one-on-one time with the kids. Schedule in the space available. Also consider the time of day that you are most productive and schedule key items that require intense focus during these times of day.
Prioritizing your meals and exercise are just as important as executive meetings and kids performances. Make sure that on a weekly basis you are including all of your personal needs. There will never magically be more time for these priorities unless you make the time. It's really hard. But it needs to be scheduled if it's going to happen.
2. BUILD YOUR TEAM
When you are at work, if you are thinking about what is happening at home you will be less productive. You need to have your team in place so you can be sure that your kids are safe, your house is clean, your dog it walked and then you can immerse yourself in your work. This requires a lot of coordination and prior planning, but it is worth it.
My husband was deployed. I was working full time. I was pregnant. Our 3-year-old was in pre-school and our one-year-old was at home with the nanny. I needed more help. I hired a house cleaner to come one time a week. I hired a local college student that worked 10 hours per week at $15/hr to do the laundry, walk the dog, grocery shop, put the crib together, etc. You get the idea. I outsourced all things that I didn't have the time to do. When I was at work, I was working. When I was home with the kids, I could be focused on them. It was hard to get set up but once the wheels where in motion everything started running smoothly. It was necessary for survival, and it enabled success.
Build your team to support your goals. Outsource the things that divert your attention from what really matters.
3. PRIORITIZE WEEKLY
Know that some days work will need more of you. And some days your family will need more of you. Plan and prioritize accordingly. If work always wins, that means that your family is losing. They are losing out on the best version of you. Being able to say 'no' when you need to is healthy and necessary.
If you find yourself not focused on work because you are distracted by family obligations, that is not sustainable for long term success. Finding ways to block off the time you need for your family is necessary. Ensuring that it doesn't take your focus away from your task at hand is really the key.
Multitasking is not possible. If you are driving the kids to school while in a meeting, then your attention is not in the meeting. If you don't really need to be in that meeting, then decline. If you really need to be in that meeting, then you need to find someone else to do drop off that day. Making these decisions is not trivial and requires prior planning and prioritization. Plan ahead you can be fully present no matter where you are.
Raising well-adjusted kids requires presence and intentional parenting. Achieving success in your career requires strategic planning and focused execution. You can do both well. But it won't happen by accident. Click here for guidance on your professional parenting journey.
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