Balance work and life

If you live and work in London, chances are your post work routine resembles something similar to:

Head for home or the gym from the office, pick up food necessities for dinner, put on some washing, cook dinner, go for a run (if you haven’t already), chat to mum/brother/and bestie, clean up post dinner, find time for personal projects and get things lined up for the next day’s challenge. 

Now, don’t get me wrong, these activities don’t happen in this order every night, or every day for that matter  – I do my share of house/work load and I count myself fortunate to live with another great chef, however, I often giggle to myself when my other half can’t seem to do any more than go to the gym and shower post work.  :]  Aside from the occasional night out after work with colleagues or mutual friends, at the present moment I honestly couldn’t imagine throwing anything else into the mix.  My time is accounted for; all of it, and then some.

In a world that runs as an ever quickening pace, I often wonder how others do it; how do others prioritize their home and work schedules?

We can all relate to the struggle when it comes to coping with juggling priorities, and Previous studies on gender and multitasking have drawn widely different conclusions.  According to the BBC in an article that discussed multitasking (October 24, 2013), both sexes struggled to cope with juggling priorities;  however, men suffered more on average, according to the paper in the journal BMC Psychology. 

Rather than get into the nitty-gritty age old battle of the sexes, I wanted to check in with the women making a difference here at DNA Recruit and get their take on multitasking and balancing life with career. 

Here at DNA we have some fabulous women at different stages of this juggling act – from 4 month old to tween - and with Mother’s Day on the horizon, I thought we’d ask those that can relate to the challenges that come with the territory best.

Whether it’s managing schedules, figuring out what things can give, proving yourself as a hardworking employee, and ensuring that you’re there for your children – any of these goals can be exhausting; especially the thought of tying them all together!

…Here are a few of their favourite work-life balance tips for working mums from working mums:

Get Organised!

Constantly planning ahead – in your head – as to when certain jobs will get done and or allocating certain time to complete various tasks.  Of course, I’ve been told that it helps if your children are of school age as you then have structure work hours built in when working from home; and alternatively if they are smaller then living by their sleep times becomes appropriate.

Live by the list and diary – every day has to have a structure of sorts. 

Find focus in productivity

“Mums are by far the most productive people! – We are also supremely brilliant at multi-tasking – I bet any one of us can simultaneously cook the kids’ supper, speak to a client on the phone, issue an invoice (in some cases) whilst scanning some timesheets and filing into the proper files… and that’s just in five minutes!!”

This goes without saying that when there’s no time to waste, you find time.

Worry Less!

Mums tend not to be too phased by “dramas” and can often bring a sense of calm to the office and workplace.

Becoming a parent – and lots of realisations come with age – means that you worry less about what people think of you and whether you have done something right or wrong.  You have a job to do, you do it in the best way you can and if people don’t like it or get angry, then you have to let it wash over you and chalk it up to experience. 

Becoming a parent is very levelling and you soon realise that you get a lot of stuff wrong but it is mainly the things that don’t matter in the grand scheme of things.

There is never one direct road to success, but if you develop your plan and strategize how you’ll handle your day/week/month then there’s no reason you won’t be doing it well.  So set those boundaries, expect the unexpected and always schedule time for yourself into your calendar; even if that means making sure you grab yourself a cuppa – be sure to finish it.