As a working parent, your list of things to do don’t end when you clock out and head home; finishing up your day job usually means beginning work on a second wave of responsibilities. Therefore, time management is not only essential to your corporate wellness, but your family wellness too, so what’s the best way to divvy up your time?
According to Laura Vanderkam, author of What the Most Successful People Do at Work, What the Most Successful People Do Before Breakfast, All The Money In The World, and 168 Hours, keeping a time log is the first thing she suggests whenever people ask her for advice. ‘Write down how you’re spending your time, as often as you remember, ideally for a week,’ Vanderkam advises. ‘You’ll start to see patterns in how you use your time, and you may see that you’re devoting lots of time to things that aren’t important to you.’
Take a look at anything and everything that you’ve gotten in the habit of doing. Vanderkam asks, ‘Does the house really need to be picked up each night? It will just get dirty again in the morning, and you’ll never get that hour back.’ Question your driving habits: ‘Maybe your kids can do fewer activities or you can organise more carpools. If you hate commuting, maybe you can negotiate to work from home on Wednesdays, so you never have to commute more than two days in a row.’
Multitasking is a buzzword in business, and a real temptation when you’re trying to succeed at work and in the home. However, Vanderkam says this is detrimental to a healthy work-life balance. ‘Don’t multitask,’ she warns. ‘When you’re with your kids, enjoy your kids, rather than trying to sneak in an email here or there. Likewise, when you’re focused on work, there’s no point stewing over whether you should be doing something else. Once you’ve chosen to do something, do it the best you can.’
Finally, think long and hard before you cut back at work, as this may not necessarily be the answer. Vanderkam explained, ‘One big problem is when women (and sometimes, men) listen to the cultural narrative that easing up on work is the best way to combine work and family. Cutting back exacts quite a financial penalty – often a disproportionate one – and time diary studies show that parents who work part-time don’t spend much more time interacting with their kids than parents who work full-time.’