Article: 6 time-management tips for working parents

*sparky*

 https://management.fortune.cnn.com/2013/06/28/time-management/?iid=SF_PF_River 

 WDYT?  Some of these are good ideas.  Not sure how I feel about working Sundays and dragging your kids into the office.  When I do have to catch up on weekends, I wake up super early and try to knock it out before anyone gets up. 

I like how she wraps it up..."However busy you get, "make your home life a priority," Taylor urges. "If your personal life is a mess, you'll never be your best at work ... You can't take the mother out of the career woman or the career out of the mother, so use both to your advantage ... Above all, try not to think of your life as a zero-sum game, or an equation that has to be balanced." Good luck."

KL777

Very interesting.  I too, liked the "make your home life a priority".  I thought "stop multi-tasking" was also good.  It's important to give something your full attention. 

"Keeping one calendar" is good as well, I think many people do that already (home items and work items on the same). "Having childcare back-up" is basically a necessity.

I disagree with working on Sundays.  Delegation is also important at work---this has an automatic benefit of building morale and job satisfaction with those who report to you.

*sparky*

KL777:

"Keeping one calendar" is good as well, I think many people do that already (home items and work items on the same).

I agree - I used to keep two and I double booked myself more than once.

shannm

I think they are all good suggestions.

As for the work on weekends point, I would say it probably varies from person to person.  I know for me, I feel great if I can get something done on the weekend.  I constantly feel like I have more goals than time during the week and I am always playing catch up.  It actually eases my anxiety a bit.  I get very anxious on Sundays with the work week creeping up and all of the chores not done at home.  It is cathartic to check something off of my work list.

 In the past, when my DS was a toddler and napping well in the afternoons, I would bring him to my work campus on weekend mornings, run him around, look at the ducks, feed him lunch and then let him fall asleep in the stroller.  I would then go to the lab and be able to get a solid 2-3 hour stretch of work in. As he got older, and out of the stroller, it really didn't make sense to do that.  

So now, if I get protected time (where I am not on kid duty but DH is),  I don't mind putting in an hour here or there on the weekends.  However, I HATE doing it now when I am with the kids because neither the kids or the work is getting my full attention and it creates all kinds of anxiety.  I am also horrible at working at night on the weekends.

But I can envision a time in four or five years when the kids are older that I will be able to bring them with me and get a bit of work done while they independently occupy themselves with stickers or workbooks for a couple of hours.

 

 

*sparky*

shannm - Well it sounds like you have a reasonably fun place to bring kids and that makes sense.  My office is super-boring and I would rather leave DS with DH for a little while than bring him in here.  At my old job I had to work a lot of Saturdays and we always called those days "Boys day out" because DH and DS would do fun things all day.

2chatter

I was bummed that these are literally all things I do already.  (with the modification that I work from home on Sunday when needed - the kids are out and about so much that they appreciate the time at home.  That time is interrupt driven though, so it conflicts with doing one thing at a time - I naturally have to parent and work simultaneously).

I can say I agree about the work life balance being a myth.  I just have not found an alternative point of view that resonates.  I think that it's the flexible model I have, but the problem is, I feel guilty when I "use" the flexibility I have.  My boss would not blink if I worked from 5-6, logged on again at 8:30, worked until 2:30 and then logged on again at 3:30 until 4:30 then worked in the evening for an hour.  Even that makes me feel bifurcated and a craving for days that I get the kids up and out then work then spend time with them then work again.

I think what I need is a model that does not leave work hanging over my head each evening.  I think that means I need to be a nurse or something where your work doesn't come home with you.

*sparky*

2chatter:

I think what I need is a model that does not leave work hanging over my head each evening.  I think that means I need to be a nurse or something where your work doesn't come home with you.

ITA.  I am in Finance, and my cousin used to be as well.  Several years into her career, she completely switched gears and went to school for nursing.  One of the things she loves about it is that when she leaves, she is done for the day, and each day is a new slate.  Someone else takes over the care of her patients and she does not have to worry about it. 

kmpls

Yep, that is exactly it 2chatter.

i wish I didn't have the working always hanging over me and I everything I do is time stamped so, it is very stressful.

 I thought it was a good article.

i work from home, have flexibility but am always stressed because I always have work hanging over me.