by Tamika Steward

Created on: April 12, 2010

The alarm clock goes off at 5am….it is time to start your day. You are a full time instructor at a community college, you work part time as an online facilitator, you are going to school full-time online for a doctorate in business administration, and you are a single mother of three. How do you balance your work life and home life? With proper time management skills, balancing the work and home can be done successfully.

The most important thing an individual can do to balance her life is to create a to-do list. Write everything down that has to be completed for the entire week. This list should include the things you have to do for work, for school, and for home. Once the list is complete place numbers by the items on the list ranging from most important to least important.  Now separate the items on the list by days. When creating your list, do not place all of the things that take a long time to complete on the same day.

The children can help with the household responsibilities. You should not feel that you have to complete everything by yourself. On some nights, the older children can cook. The children can also help with the laundry and cleaning some areas of the house.  The younger children can even participate in the household responsibilities.

One important aspect of balancing home and work is to provide the children with the attention they deserve. Designate a day as family day and participate in various activities with the children. Be sure to remain active in your children’s lives. 

One of the most important things an individual can do to balance work and home life is to leave work life at work and home life at home. As an instructor, it is very easy to bring work home. Lectures notes for the next day must be completed and exams or assignments must be graded. Whatever cannot be completed at work should be carried over to the next day.  The same applies to home life. If something cannot be completed at home, it should be carried over to the next day.

As parents, we have to ensure we are able to balance our work and our home life. We must remember that our families deserve as much of our time that we devote to our work. Creating a to-do list is one way that will assist anyone with balancing their work and home life.  Another method is to distribute the household duties.  Just remember to choose a method that works best for you so that you are able to give work and home the proper attention that both areas need and deserve.

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