Achieving work-life balance is something most of us strive for but throw in a hectic family-schedule and quite quickly you’ll face some challenges! Are you one of the many Australian parents struggling to keep it all together? Finding ways to manage your work and family-life balance is essential if you value your own well-being AND want to ensure your spouse and kids are happy.
If you find yourself challenged by numerous commitments and demands from work and family, you need to put some coping strategies in place. For example, with home cooked meals delivered Melbourne households can eat healthily when busy parents don’t have time to cook. Or perhaps it’s time to drop your pride and ask for help?
Keep reading as we share helpful tips for managing the various challenges of being a busy parent.
4 Helpful Tips for Busy Parents Managing Work and Family Life
1. Stock Healthy Pre-Prepared Meals
One of the biggest challenges of maintaining a work-family life balance is providing healthy and nutritious meals. With over 74% of mothers working a full-time job in Australia, it’s not surprising many families battle to find time to cook a meal at the end of a busy day.
But you can get around this difficulty!
Firstly, why not have a big cook-up on the weekend and prepare healthy meals for the week ahead?
The other option is to buy pre-prepared family meals from local chefs who specialize in hand-crafted dishes for time-pressured parents. These can be kept in the freezer for those days when you get back late from work. Or, you can use home meal delivery services that use fresh and healthy ingredients, ensuring you and your family eat a balanced and tasty dish, even when life gets busy.
2. Prioritise and Keep Weekly Activities to the Minimum
Prioritizing work and family commitments will help keep you on track, especially if you minimize unnecessary engagements during the week.
You can reduce after-school involvements that aren’t essential to your child’s educational needs, to prevent overly busy schedules. The same applies to after-work activities that don’t really require your participation. Volunteering at a charity supported by your workplace is commendable but if it eats into quality time with your family, you need to re-evaluate your calendar.
When setting priorities, consider your values and decide what is best for you and your family’s overall well-being. Keeping weekly activities to a minimum gives you downtime and helps you manage work and family life effectively.
3. Build a Support Network
There’s only so much you and your partner can do to maintain a comfortable work and family life balance. If both of you are working a full day and struggle to get time off to handle the school run, you need to build a support network with other families in the neighborhood. This way, you can rely on another person to step in when work demands your full attention.
Your support network can include a trustworthy neighbor, reliable extended family members or other parents with kids at the same school as yours. Seeking out help from others gives you backup when you need it most and you can return the favor whenever possible. It also means your children know who to call in case of emergencies when you’re not available.
4. Plan in Advance and Be Prepared
Putting together a weekly routine for you and your family helps you plan in advance and be prepared for all eventualities. A weekly schedule can include all activities and who is responsible for the different tasks.
Planning in advance allows you to prepare for activities such as the following:
- Grocery shopping
- Meal preparations
- After-school extra murals
- Work involvements after hours
- School runs
- Medical appointments
This can be done together as a family on a Sunday evening and be seen as fun family session. On the practical side it helps limit potential chaos and overwhelm!
It’s important to include “me time” in your weekly schedule so it allows you to attend fitness classes, watch your favourite TV show or practice meditation. Factoring in this time is essential for your physical, mental and emotional wellness while demonstrating to your kids the importance of self-care. It also allows you to be more present and less frazzled when with your family.
Final Thoughts
Using gluten free meal delivery services is a no-brainer when you don’t have time to put dinner on the table! And starting to build a support group in your neighbourhood can benefit multiple families that need help with managing their schedules!
Remember, managing work and family life should include couples time, having fun, rewinding after a busy day and sticking to a schedule that works for everyone. It’s about reducing demands and commitments that aren’t vital to your work or family’s wellbeing.
Review your calendar, habits and priorities and start enjoying your family more!