Four Things that Have Helped Me
The phrase “Work-Life Balance” gets thrown around quite a bit in the professional world, but it takes on a whole new meaning when 4 kids are involved. I’ll do my best to explain how I go about managing both aspects of my life to the best of my capabilities, which is far from perfect but has worked alright thus far. To start, my wife and myself have 4 young children (10, 6, 4, 2) who are energetic and definitely keep us on our toes. Along with this, our 4-year-old daughter Evelyn has special needs, which presents a whole slew of other obstacles to navigate. There are some basic things I try and follow that help me on a day-to-day basis in managing my work life and family life. Teamwork In my humble opinion, teamwork is the most important aspect of making work and family life balance out. My wife is incredible, and I feel she and I have a rhythm of knowing which of us should be doing certain tasks in order for them to be completed as efficiently as possible. Also, with all the appointments, play-dates, and sporting events, knowing who is going to and/or able take off work and when is essential in making things work out.
Lists My wife would tell you she is kind of a nut when it comes to making “To-Do” lists and tasks that need to be completed. But these lists do a great job at providing a birds-eye view of what needs to accomplished and keeps us on track. Coinciding with these lists, is the ability to pick out spots within your day when you feel you’ll have the opportunity to get these tasks done. Multi-tasking This is an essential skill to have when dealing with kids and work. A lot of my most productive work ideas and strategies take place while I’m performing mundane tasks such as cooking dinner, doing dishes, or picking up around the house. I’m arranging and organizing ideas in my head so that when it comes time to actually implement these ideas or strategies, it kind of just flows because I’ve been thinking heavily about it already, just not at the computer. Technology There are many more standard rules I try to follow, but I’ll end with the importance of harnessing the power of technology. Those pocket-sized supercomputers can be incredibly distracting, keep parents from paying enough attention to their kids, and encourage people to spend way too much time in mental isolation. In our house we have tried to make it a point to stay off our phones as much as we can and unplug to make the time together as a family count.
In conclusion, all of the above-mentioned points wouldn’t matter if I didn’t work for a company that offered flexibility like P3 does. As adults, we shouldn’t have to be babysat by our employers. If employees are producing and getting their work done on time, that should be what matters most. So, I am grateful to work at a company like P3 that allows employees to have the opportunity to instill a proper work-life balance.