As a working parent, it feels like you are being pulled in a million different directions all at once. It’s a constant struggle to achieve a work-life balance as you tend to the never-ending needs of your children while racing against time to get work duties done and constantly prioritizing your professional responsibilities but not letting them interfere with your parental obligations.
The demands of your career are constantly butting up against the 24/7 care that your children require. And on top of that, you still need to leave time for some self-care.
All of these competing responsibilities require you to multitask and organize your life at levels that can seem overwhelming and extremely daunting. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day to get to everything that needs your attention.
This article is meant for working parents who would like to be more productive and intentional with their time. Here, we will look at 10 productivity tips to help working parents make better use of their time and achieve a better work-life balance.
1)Â Coworking
Coworking can offer working parents the flexibility of performing their professional duties at a nearby location while being highly productive. Instead of being locked in for a specific set of hours at a conventional office, you can take advantage of Spokane coworking and still carve out significant time for your kids.
Coworking allows you to network and learn best practices from other working professionals. This will enable you to thrive in a coworking community while you benefit from the scheduling flexibility that it offers so you can spend more time with your kids.
2) Prioritize Your Day
When you have what seems like an insurmountable list of things to get done, the hardest part is figuring out where to get started.
That is why it is important to prioritize your day.
Consider all of the things you need to get done and rank them based on how important and time-sensitive they are. You’ll want to build your daily list based on your top priorities and then stick to them.
This exercise will help you gain clarity as to which tasks need to be done first and the ones that can happen later.
3)Â Set Aside Time for Your Kids
Before getting carried away with work responsibilities, make sure you carve out ample time for your kids. When life pulls you in many different directions, you want to make sure that you don’t inadvertently neglect your kids’ needs. Even when the day gets extremely busy, you want to make sure that you focus your energy on your kids.
Examples of prioritizing your time with your children include: sitting down with them during breakfast and asking them what they’re looking forward to, making time to snuggle with your kids, and reading them a story at night. Have them share with you how their day went. These times are priceless, and you don’t want to miss out on these moments no matter how hectic your day is.
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4) Establish Boundaries
It can be challenging to achieve a work-life balance. And this is especially true if you are working from home. If you are not setting boundaries, however, it is likely to make you feel disorganized and unproductive both at home and at work.
This is where boundaries come in. It is essential to set boundaries with your family, yourself, and your employer. Within these boundaries will be expectations that you will communicate with your kids about when you are and aren’t available, discuss expectations with your supervisor and ask for a flexible schedule, and finally, carve out time for yourself.
5)Â Put Your Kids to Work
If your kids are older and have some time available, have them direct some of their energy toward household chores that relieve you of having to do them yourself. They might even be able to cook meals, wash dishes, and do yard work.
Don’t hesitate to enlist the aid of your kids when it comes to helping out around the house. This could benefit them as you could have a more fun time with your kids. You’ll also be able to devote more hours to work, as well. Your kids will be pleased as the size of their allowance grows from all these additional chores.
6) Outsource When Possible
Your days can become quickly consumed with making lunches for the kids and cleaning the kitchen, and mopping the floors. The day can be extremely hectic and taken up with menial tasks.
The goal should be to put more focus on the important responsibilities and compress the more trivial tasks together.
This is why outsourcing is helpful. For example, hire a cleaning service, a yard maintenance service, or a data entry service if you work from home or are freelancing. Outsourcing key services like these will help tremendously with time management as you free up more hours in the day for family activities and or seek to become more efficient with your work duties.
7)Â Leverage Downtime
Perhaps you have long commutes to work.
Maybe for business travel you routinely find yourself waiting at the airport for your plane to take off.
You might also be waiting in the pickup/drop-off lane at school.
Either way, optimize this downtime by improving yourself or getting things done. Listen to podcasts or audiobooks during a commute. Plan to get work done during flight delays. You could also choose to check in with your kids while you’re at the airport.
Every moment can be dedicated toward self-care, tending to your kids, or putting time into your work responsibilities. Downtime should always be translated into productive time.
8) Use a Planner
A good planner is one of the most helpful ways you can keep track of your domestic and professional duties daily. The act of physically writing down appointments, checklists, and plans is satisfying, and it makes it difficult to overlook anything.
You can choose from daily, weekly, and monthly planners, as well as planners that assist you in tracking your goals.
If you love mobile apps and find them more convenient, there are a large variety of ones you can use to help keep you organized as well.
9)Â Utilize Bullet Journals
As a working parent, it is vital to be intentional with your time. Time is precious, and it seems there just isn’t enough of it during the quickly evaporating hours of the day. That is why it is important to spend your time wisely.
Bullet journals are the perfect tool for working parents. They will motivate you to organize your life and multitask when necessary. You’ll be more productive and live more intentionally.
Use a bullet journal to track practically anything you need for work or home projects. You can keep yourself accountable for beginning new habits, doing work-related activities, or otherwise measuring progress toward your goals.
The beauty of bullet journals is that they enable you to stay organized on the things that are most relevant in your life. You’re able to live more intentionally and accomplish more during your day.
10) Create a Network of Working Parents for Support
You can be sure that many other working moms and dads are also finding it challenging to balance the demands of work and home. What better way to enhance your productivity than to share best practices with other working parents?
This is where a network of working parents comes in. This might mean having a group you share carpooling duties with or having other parents you arrange playdates with for your kids. Having this network can not only free up valuable time during the day but can also provide you with valuable emotional support.
Connect with Burbity Workspaces in Spokane for Professional Coworking Spaces
At Burbity Workspaces our flexible coworking solutions offer an inspiring workspace. We cater to the busy lifestyle of working parents by providing flexible hours at our coworking spaces.
Take advantage of our virtual office plans, coworking memberships, dedicated desks, private offices, team suites, meeting rooms, and training rooms.
We invite you to enjoy the benefits of ultimate flexibility, networking, increased productivity, and decreased loneliness at our coworking spaces.
