As a working mom, you bet I understand how difficult it can be to strike the work-life balance. To many, this is a myth. Especially in the United States. But no worries, I found the hack! I get tons of questions on how to make work-life balance work immediately and without too much work.
Questions like…
How do you run a six-figure business and balance work and families?
How do you manage to be there for your family despite now handling two businesses?
How are you able to handle homeschooling too?
How are you able to be everywhere on social media, YouTube, your blog, and podcast.
My reply?
It’s simple!
After hitting “burn out” a year ago, I restructured. And by systemizing everything I was able to find an effective work life balance!
And like you know, I’m not one to hoard success tips.
That’s why I took the time to compile this article to empower career women and working dads. To let them know that it is very possible to hold leadership roles and still balance work and families.
Here is my cheat sheet:
- Focus on the priorities first
- Optimize the systems used to handle those priorities
- Outsource the tasks or parts of the systems you can
Focus on priorities first
How do you manage your day and time? We all have an equal amount of time daily – 24 hours.
The first step to make work-life balance work is to manage your 24 hours the right way.
You have to find a way to balance everything.
I divided my time into 3 categories – work, family, others. That’s outside my 7 hours of sleep. Because we all need sleep to feel rejuvenated and empowered to knock out our schedules. Don’t sleep on that! [see what I did there? Haha!]
So, subtracting 7 hours from 24 hours leaves us with 17 hours.
What makes people struggle with work-life balance is poor management of time.
To excel in this area, I divide the 17 hours among work, family, and general time. Of course, self care, date nights, and general family activities make up the family time.
Having outlined my daily routine, I assign a specific time range to each item on the list.
Here is where most people get it wrong – I protect my time. Say, I schedule between 2pm to 4pm for a particular activity or a series of activities. I make sure I protect that time for that activity or activities.
On a few occasions where emergencies take up the time, I make sure to reschedule that activity ASAP.
In my experience, I can say, the reason most people fall out of a routine is due to failure to protect the time. It is not enough to create a schedule or routine.
You have to focus on ensuring you spend your time the way you have it planned and set, minus distractions.
Optimize
This is yet another key to balancing work and families. It is a bit intertwined with the first tip though.
This point borders around making the best of your time.
Now that you have created a practical schedule with set time. Remember you won’t be 100% at all times.
And that is okay. But what matters is what you do in these times. Do you lie down for a nap? How do you manage the time?
I have come to realize that an integral part of work life balance for women is to make each second count. Instead of passing out on the couch or your desk, why not start planning for the next activity instead.
Granted, the task at hand requires you to be at 100% and you are quite low. But there are subtasks and activities that do not need so much. Instead of wasting the whole time, you could turn to easier tasks and knock them out.
Somehow, this uplifts your spirit. You get a morale boost from knowing that you still achieved something. This is all you need to knock out the initial task. At this point, you are back to 100% and ready to take on the world.
This way you have wasted no time all day. Even at your lowest point.
Outsource
This has got to be the biggest hack yet. The secret to increasing productivity while striking a work life balance. Do you know you can outsource almost anything?
Yes! From your business activities to your personal life. You can get someone to make life easier for only a few bucks. Unfortunately, a lot of people have yet to learn this life-saving hack.
I mean, outsourcing some tasks gives me time to focus on achieving the goal for each day. This way, I can stick to my schedule and ensure I am giving it my best at all times. Not stressed out at the corner of the room thinking of how much I have to do, and how I cannot finish every task.
This is not rocket science. I understand that your responsibilities will increase from time to time. Especially when you delve into something new. But that doesn’t mean you should choke yourself with work. When you can get a virtual assistant to help you out for only a few bucks. We are talking about 5 or 6 dollars per hour.
Besides work-related tasks, I try to make life easier by getting support for my personal life too. Things like:
- Designing my kids’ birthday invitations
- Drafting our Christmas card… and the likes.
Stuck on home chores? There are tons of cleaning companies out there that can help. You can outsource your laundry and home cleaning duties and save time.
Are you always caught in traffic to or from work?
You can get an Uber driver to do the driving, while you focus on managing tasks while in the car.
Things like:
- booking appointments
- calling the dentist
- checking on your kids
- verifying work details… and lots more.
See how you have managed to turn the time in traffic into productive time?!
And it is even more beautiful knowing that outsourcing doesn’t cost you a fortune. This makes it easy to use freelancers to get more work done in less time. Doing this, allows you to enjoy your time with friends and family.
Take away!
All in! Now, you understand how I make work-life balance pretty easy to manage.
With my cheat sheet on how to make work-life balance work, I am sure you can also strike that balance. All you’ve got to do is focus on your priorities first, optimize second, and outsource last. Simple, right? I told you!
That’s not all!
I will like to hear your tips too. Also, check out my YouTube channel and Podcast for more work and life tips. Stay winning!