How to balance work with family life

June 27, 2014 by Ife Adedapo

The stressful nature of some jobs often has negative impact on the family. IFE ADEDAPO writes on ways to balance your work and family life

Business operations have changed over the years, and to catch up with emerging trends and innovations, and compete favourably with others in the industry, more input in form of time is often required from business managers.

While trying to build a successful career, experts have noted that working adults find it difficult to combine work with family life; hence, they abandon the home front.

Marriage counselors have discovered that their children, friends and other family members suffer the brunt of the neglect. They say when a member of the family immerses himself or herself in work with no fun time with other members, it often leads to break-ups

Experts have pointed out that both work and family are the cornerstones of life, neither of which one can ignore. A full-time employment requires dedication and hard work to be successful; also, to have a happy family, they say commitment and utmost attention are required.

According to them, it is important to recognise the need to be flexible to avoid stress associated with the two sides of life. Balancing both aspects of life means those affected have to commit themselves equally, so that one will not suffer at the expense of the other. They say in the long range, the joy, happiness and fulfillment derived from both are worth the effort.

Experts have explained the means by which a balance can be created between work life and family life, using the following methods:

Manage your time well

Experts say time is a precious asset that is neither perishable nor replaceable. It is valuable and should be managed appropriately. As adults, time is not always enough when there are a lot of things to be accomplished. They say time management may necessitate a change in attitude towards life and work and the things they aspire to achieve.

Brian Tracey in his book on the ‘Principles of Success’ explains that time can only be reallocated from activities of lower value to activities of higher value. He says all work requires an adequate planning of time. The very act of taking a moment to ponder on how to spend it, according to him, will begin to improve personal time management immediately.

To achieve this feat of having a balanced work and family lives, experts says personal time management has to be practised.

Experts say for people to identify the important things in their life they need to ask questions like, “What is really important to me?” They say whenever there are a lot of activities with too little time to accomplish them, stop and ask, “What is it that is really important for me to do in this situation?”

The next line of action, according to them, is to establish boundaries. This will set limits on what people are willing to do and express the extent of responsibilities.

Prioritise your goals

Career counselors have identified the importance of career and family life. However, they often create conflicts which can be managed by setting priorities. Understand that the most important factor to consider in setting priorities is your ability to make wise choices and being able to identify high-value and low-value activities.

According to them, people having this challenge set goals for each area of their life: for career and family. The family goals can then be divided into tangible and intangible goals.

Experts say tangible goals are those goals that involve spending money on, like buying a house or a car while intangible goals are related to commitments and time spent with the family for recreation or vacation.

Career goals that should be set should improve productivity and competence in order that the reward will cater for the family goals, experts say.

According to them, consider ways by which you can achieve the level of income that will enable you to fulfil your family goals. Set goals to improve your competence and get you promoted with corresponding increase in income.

Therefore, once you have achieved your goal-setting, they say proceed to organise them in order of priority. Make decisions on the most important thing you want to achieve in your family and the most important career goals that will support essential family goals.

Communicate with your partner

Experts say the quality of the relationship you have with your partner is central to the happiness of your whole family. Without adding to the pressures on you both, it is important to have at least a little focus on building and enriching the relationship.

The Managing Director of Stevens Associates, Mrs. Chioma Okeke, says identify ways you and your partner can use these ideas to optimise how effective you are at work and to increase your happiness levels and build rather than put strain on your relationship. Determine how both of you support each other and get your needs met.

She says the key to a happy family life is communication. Both the quality of time and the quantity of time you spend with your family count. Quality moments are precious and important.

Avoid time-wasting tasks

Experts say there are some activities people engage in which seem exciting but actually time-wasting. They say people should avoid activities like surfing the Internet, playing video games or watching television and concentrate on making your family happy.

Okeke says taking home office work creates tension within the family and portrays a form of neglect. It also shows that you have concern for your job only. She says the best thing is to ensure that all the tasks associated with work are completed in the office before getting home.

Make up for lost time

Sometimes, spending extra time at work is inevitable, but you can make up for time spent away from your family by making emergency or surprise plans. Such plans should be exciting enough to compensate for the moments you were not around.

Okeke says because of the nature of her job, which involves travelling, her family feels her absence often. She says, “Whenever I promise to be at home at a particular time and am unable to, I just surprise my husband and children with a well-planned outing that makes them forget that I have been absent from home for a while.”