For many parents, the balance between managing a healthy home and a demanding job can feel like an impossible task. The demands from both spheres of our lives can create a chaotic and unsatisfied push and pull. Consider these strategies that we can employ to help support both areas of our lives.

Childcare

Having trusted childcare for our kiddos is a key component of being able to fully engage at work. Knowing that you have after school care Tampa FL that can keep your child engaged and safe will give you peace of mind as you tackle your professional tasks.

Family Time

While you may have a busy lifestyle, it is also important for parents to put unmovable guards around the home. Designated family time, like dinnertime and quality bonding time for the family, should have firm guardrails around this time where no other obligations can interfere.

Expectations at Work

While you need to manage expectations at home, you also need to have expectations and boundaries at work. Informing your team of when you can work and when there are familial obligations can help create a better balance, but also keep your team informed of what to expect from you to avoid issues down the line.

Organization

Organization at work may be an obvious factor in success; however, it can also play an important role at home. If you approach home life with the organizational tools and tricks of your professional life, you can manage expectations, stay on top of tasks and avoid missing key details. Try introducing calendars, todo lists and organizational tools like chore wheels to help you maintain order.

Stress Management

While having all of these plans are important, you also need to acknowledge that stress will still happen. Having a plan for stress management will be important, not just for your mental health, but for the whole family.

Managing a life that is filled with children and professional aspirations can be challenging. While it can be difficult to balance, it is important to understand that it is not impossible, but rather, will require some planning.

To say that the Covid-19 pandemic has spurned an uptick in anxiety and unrest is an understatement. To varying degrees, every living person has been affected by either this disease or the efforts to combat it. When combined with the controversial and divisive responses many country’s leaders have set in motion, the average person has a recipe for a breakdown of mental health. Here are some tips to stay centered and weather the storm.

 

Re-Examine Your Faith and Spirituality

Many busy people who suddenly find themselves with more time on their hands would benefit from taking an inventory of their spirituality. For those who have been raised with religious upbringings, ask “how is my relationship with God?” For those who aren’t, ask if you feel spiritually complete, or you should seek out a religion or dogma to provide an anchoring force in your life.

 

Stay Connected with Family and Friends

It’s clear that isolation is a very bad idea during the lockdowns, self-quarantines, and shelter-in-place orders associated with Covid-19. The good news is that technological advancements have made the world much smaller. There has never been a better time to connect (or re-connect) with friends and loved ones across the world using various video conferencing platforms.

 

Prioritize Exercise and Nutrition

Staying physically healthy is essential to maintaining good mental health in these unprecedented times. It is, unfortunately, all too easy to over-indulge in junk food or alcohol, or just stay sedentary as you live and work at home. Set boundaries and write down diet and exercise requirements to stay fit.

 

Reflect at the End of the Day

Finally, taking a moment at the end of each day to reflect upon or journal the positive events you’ve experienced can send you to bed in a better mindset and set you up for a better tomorrow.

The pandemic is a difficult thing to navigate. Make sure you’re taking care of yourself and use these tips to help!