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Five Critical Suggestions For Managing Work And Family Simultaneously

The old saying tells us that the best laid plans of mice and men will fail. Not sure how complicated a life a mouse might lead when we’re not watching, but it appears well nigh impossible to plan our busy lives around work and family, without any of those additional “days off” devoted to teacher training, weather or illness!

It would be really nice if everything and everyone were flexible, including schedules and you could just drop everything without notice to care for your ill child.

1. If you can – plan. It’s true that some of these days are unpredictable, but others may be scheduled ahead of time. The weather is always unpredictable of course, but snow days will only be expected during certain months of the year and inset days are almost always planned in advance, so with a bit of work, they can be placed in a schedule.

Sick days present the biggest problem of all, of course. Prepare and plan as best you can, as you know that these days will surely come! If you are struggling with your planning, consider some professional coaching to help you get back on track.

2. Save up your personal days. If both parents or adults in the household have regular work commitments, it’s important to try and reserve some personal days for the inevitable sick calling. Talk to your human resources department at work and see if your employer will grant you a certain amount of personal days, allowing you to anticipate the scenarios as best you can.

In many cases you will not have any advance notice, so you need to look at this from every perspective and try and be fair all around.

Whichever way you look at it, there’s no denying that it helps matters if you and your partner have a sympathetic employer. It is very important that you do not use personal or sick standby days for any reasons other than they’re intended for.

3. Line up favours. If you have several children to take care of, you should come up with a backup plan as well. In an emergency, maybe you can rely on some care giving help from friends or good neighbours? These favours should be repaid in any way you can think of. The more emergency backup plans you have the more you are going to be able to cope with the issue of a sick child or three.

4. Roll out the vitamins. When you are coping with sick children, remember that you should pay attention to prevention as it is a lot easier than the cure. Teach your children good personal hygiene, that they should eat well, should rest well and be in good health at all times, as they will be less likely to fall victim to those annoying, smaller viruses.

5. Be a good forecaster. Keep an eye on the weather forecast during the winter months. Weather forecasting has improved much over the years and if they say there is a threat of a blizzard a couple of days ahead, you can be pretty sure and start making contingency plans now. If a school district is closed, it might be very difficult for you to get to your work location as well, but if the office is open, see if you can count on one of those personal days or plan to work from home.

Isn’t it difficult wearing so many different hats that you don’t know which one to put on?

These days, online life coaching is available to really help you understand this part of your “wardrobe selection!” If you’re in need of guidance, coaching for women can help you to manage and not panic!

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!

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