We spend all year looking forward to the fabled Summer holidays. However, they often descend to 8 weeks of exhausted guilty parenting whist attached to a laptop. Here are 6 tactics for maintaining an element of work life balance during the holidays.
- Build in more flexibility with deadlines. Ever heard that phrase ‘underpromise and over deliver’. Managing client expectations will result in greater flexibility and higher performance.
- Avoid scheduling any meetings that have any potential to clash. Want to take the kids to the pool or have that picnic? Building this into your schedule, with a healthy buffer, gives more opportunity to make it happen.
- Communicate. Let all those within your sphere of impact know when you’re working and when you’re not. If your clients know when they can get hold of you, they’ll feel more relaxed.
- Measure your performance by output rather than counting the hours. Presenteeism is no substitute for performance. You clients won’t care you’ve completed their project at 5am, just that you’ve completed their project.
- Get yourself some cover. Be honest with yourself – do you really need to do it all? Look to outsource anything that doesn’t need your personal touch to a virtual assistant. We’re here for anything admin, bookkeeping or marketing related (just ping us an email). For sorting the socks, try looking closer to home!
- Acknowledge that whatever way you slice it, the Summer Holidays deliver a great big portion of guilt pie for parents. Whether you are one or work with one, empathy is key.
Finally, for those of you keeping the kids entertained during the holidays these blog posts may also help
- Great Resources for Kids Activities at home
- How to grow a business when you have children at home
- Screen free activities
Melissa x
