Career Money Life Certified Supplier, Kerry Corp of the Grounded Chic shares some practical tips for working parents towards achieving and maintaining a healthy work/life balance.
Does your life sometimes feel like you’re juggling so many balls in the air? You feel anxious that at any minute, you just might drop one ball and then they’ll all come tumbling down?
- STOP!
- Take a deep breath
- Then, let go of this constant pressure we and society are putting on ourselves.
Ok, feel better?…..maybe or maybe not?
Ok, I’m not saying taking a deep breath is going to change your world here, but taking the pressure off yourself should. Easier said than done, right?
What I can do, today is share with you my 5 top tips on what helps me, juggle my family life and my 2 businesses amidst all the other commitments and responsibilities I have.
- Menu plan- Yes, you may do this and there is a simple strategy I apply here. The benefits of meal planning are lifesaving in a busy life. I create a basic template and keep it very simple like; Monday- Chicken, Tuesday- Lamb, Wednesday- vegetarian and so on, you get the picture. I vary the recipe but during the week it’s about quick recipes, mostly 30 minutes or less. If you have 3-4 recipes that fit each protein and criteria, then this goes on high rotation ( you could even create a little default recipe book of these recipes for when you get stuck for ideas). Meal planning also, allows you to go to the supermarket only once to purchase all you need for the week ahead and helps keeps cost down, by only purchasing what you need.
- Food prep-setting up your week for the busy week ahead can be such a time and life saver, especially when you’re getting in the door late. Some of my time savings tip you can prep are; Chop up vegetables/salad and store in a glass sealed bowl ( I do this Sundays and Wednesdays). Marinade/flavour meat and store in zip lock bags, ready to be pan fried, stir-fried, slow cooked or oven baked. Cook up some brown rice or quinoa and store in sealed bowls. Make a jar of dressing to take to work, with some pre chopped salad. Roast up a chicken to have in the fridge for anything from the kid’s lunches, a quick salad to take to work or stir fry. Prep a weeks worth of breakfast, for a quick up and go. (Download The Grounded Chic’s FREE Up and Go breakfast eBook here) Half and hour to an hour on a Sunday can save you so much time during the week and you’ll thank yourself when you have everything ready to grab and whip up in minutes.
Ok, your meal planned and prepped, foods sorted, now next……
3. Don’t be afraid to say NO!- This one can be a difficult one for many women, I know, I WAS one of them, but not anymore. As I said last week, self-care is not a selfish act and if you are over stressed and overburden, you have to get real about what you can or cannot do. Abandon the guilt, you are doing your best and you cannot be everything to everyone.
4.Develop a support network- One thing I realised when I became a parent, without any family living nearby to help me in any way, was to ask for help if I needed (yes. not easy at first!). But now, if I can arrange with another parent to share the load of getting kids to activities or outsourcing something like cleaning, ironing or whatever it is ( depending on your household budget, too), then don’t be afraid to do it. Give your kids chores. They are never too young to start helping, no matter how small the task is. You can only do so much. ASKING FOR HELP IS NOT A SIGN OF WEAKNESS, IT’S A SIGN OF STRENGTH.
5.Go easy on yourself- So what if everything isn’t perfect? If the bed doesn’t get made( something I use to struggle with!!) or the 3 baskets of clean washing sit there a little longer before it gets put away, what does it really matter? Don’t stress over that stuff. Ask yourself……Some quiet time for you? Some quality time with your kids? OR made beds or washing perfectly folded and in its place? Work out what really matters and let go a little because you can only do so much.
These strategies have helped me to no end, with that balancing act we are all doing. Never underestimate the power a few tools and trick can have, for setting up the week ahead. These tips will relieve pressure, provide a little more breathing space and down time. It will also make you feel successful when you ‘ve got a few time and sanity saving strategies in your bag. You’ll be on fire!
Advice from our Experts 