5 Tips to Balance your Career and Family Life 

Balancing your career with being a parent is hard enough in ‘normal’ times, right? 

Let alone being thrown in and out of lockdown, home-schooling and trying to hold together your career…..and without the usual support of family and friends to keep you sane!  

I’m Jenny Idle and I am a qualified coach, specialising in supporting parents to succeed in their career, without sacrificing family life.  

I’ve been supporting parents throughout the past year to find mindset and practical strategies to cope with the added pressure of parenting through a pandemic. I thought I’d share some of these steps that can help you keep sane as the lockdown continues. 

1. Recognise you’re only human 

It’s impossible to play the role of teacher and professional at the same time. You’re doing the best you can in a difficult situation and beating yourself up won’t help you or your family.  Be kind to yourself, take a breath and take a moment to think about making some of those expectations on yourself a little more realistic. 

2. Don’t go it alone 

I know it’s hard when we can’t see our usual support network. If you have a partner, talk to them about how you can work more as a team and think about where your children may also be able to chip in.

Don't lose sight of your support network outside of the four walls of your house. Can you call and friend and go for a walk when the kids are in bed? Can you check in with a antenatal Whatsapp group? 

Consider where you could ask your manager or colleagues to support you in your work, so you’re not working into the evening every day. 

 3. Create a routine that’s good enough 

You might not fit in Joe Wicks every morning, and the kids are likely to have more screen time than usual. But having a plan can help to give you some structure around your priorities. It’s helpful to involve the whole family in planning, to get them on board and accountable. 

 Considering some boundaries and wiggle room will be helpful in creating a routine that works for you. 

 4. Celebrate the little wins  

Whether it’s getting the kids engaged in a school project for half an hour or managing to keep them entertained for long enough to run your team meeting, give yourself a massive pat on the back for every little achievement you’re making.  

 5. Look after yourself  

It’s easy to get swept up in looking after everyone else and find yourself burnt out and exhausted by the end of the week. Whatever you can do to give yourself a break will help you to recharge your energy and patience in your career and family life. 

Whether it’s a cup of tea in the garden, a walk around the block or listening to an audiobook, try to find some time to look after you too!  

Want some help with your work/life balance?

If you’d like more support around juggling your career and family life, feel free to join my free Facebook group.

You can also contact me to find out about my 1:1 Career and Family Balance Transformation coaching package. In this, I will work with you to think strategically about your career, relationships with your partner and children and re-discovering the things that bring you fun and purpose.   

Contact me to find out more information on jenny@babystepscoaching.co.uk or www.babystepscoaching.co.uk