juggling work and babies...

Today is my first day back at work!

Connor and Kendra, 15 weeks
(couldn't resist this opportunity to show off some baby pics)

It must be hard to juggle your work and your babies?

How do you do it? :-)

Leanne from Joburg

I wrote about balancing work, life and family before...


I thank God every day that I'm organised so I can save lots of time in a myriad of different ways.

I honestly don't know how people do this mothering thing (especially of multiples) if they're not organised :) I would go nuts.

1. I have lots of systems so that things that have to get done like cooking and cleaning get done with the least amount of fuss.
2. I also always cook double and when I'm in the mood and have an extra bit of time, I'll cook even more and freeze all the extra meals. At the time of writing I have 10 extra meals in my freezer (that's enough for two weeks) and on my to-do list today is to cook another two meals as I have the nanny here.
3. I'm fortunate that I have a wonderful boss who's allowed me a more flexible working day now that the babies are here. However that means when I'm at work, I'm totally there. No faffing around; I get to it and get my work done.
4. I've pared down my business considerably. When I'm at home and working on a newsletter, I set myself a time goal, focus and get it done.
5. I always assume that a baby will wake before I expect it to so I try and work quickly. At home I clean as I go, or tidy as I go. I don't ever think "I'll come back to this later".
   
6. Of course when the babies need my attention, all this goes out the window.

I think in short, I've been forced to use my time effectively. I've learned that now more than ever I can't afford to procrastinate otherwise it might never get done (even simple things like eating breakfast).

Calling all mothers!

Please share your best tips with me for juggling work and babies (any work - inside or outside the home)

How do you balance work, home and family?

Melanie from New Orleans wrote...

I'm personally very interested in balancing hings - work, graduate school, home, family, friends, etc, etc, etc. If you have any advice about that, I would appreciate it!


This is a great question, Melanie. It's also something I'm re looking at in my own life since my babies were born 4 months ago.

1. Realise you only have so many hours in the day

We all only have 24-hour days. Some of us think we're Superwoman and have more time than that. We don't.

2. Write down your different roles and the time commitment required from each

Don't forget to add in managing your home time and personal time!

The idea is to see if you're a time optimist or if you're being realistic with your time. Sometimes we think a certain activity only takes, let's say 2 hours a week. When you factor in travel time plus preparation time, it may increase to 4 or 5 hours. No wonder you always feel frazzled when you think about this specific activity.

3. Now ask yourself these questions:

Am I too busy?
Am I trying to do too much?
Am I being realistic about the amount of time outside commitments take?
What do I need or want to focus on at this time in my life?
What can I cut out?
What can I delegate?
Etc.

4. Prioritise

I do an exercise with my Time Management clients where they tell me all the different areas of their lives. Some people have lots and lots of balls that they're trying to juggle. That's okay-ish.... as long as your priorities are straight.

Don't neglect your home and family commitments just to look good on a committee :)

My preference is to do less and do those things well rather than to feel overwhelmed by taking on more and more.

5. Realise that when you say yes to something, you automatically say no to something else.

Some things in life are just for a season, like the newborn stage. So while reading and going to my dance classes are extremely important to me, I'm doing a lot less because I have to sleep when I can :)

If you're on my Organise It mailing list, just this weekend I sent out a survey because I need to declutter all the things I do in my business for the next year or so, in order to focus on the babies.

I realised that I can't keep saying yes to all these other business-related things and short-change my family time!

6. Keep evaluating and tweaking

Just when you think you have things figured out, suddenly something won't work anymore.

That's normal with organising ANYTHING, let alone your time.

Keep evaluating where you're at - I do this on a weekly basis * - and tweak, tweak, tweak. Just because it suited you to work really long hours a few months ago doesn't mean it still suits you to do so now.

* will write about the way I plan my life soon...

So that's how I create balance in my life. I want to emphasise that it's an area I'm always working on!

Please share how you create balance in your life. We'd love to read your suggestions.