Let’s face it – being married and raising a family is hard
work. Add in demanding work schedules, children’s activities, volunteer work,
and making time for family and friends, and it can be overwhelming. Here are
three ways we’ve discovered to keep our work-life better balanced.
Learning to Say No
Steph: No matter what stage you find yourself in – newly married,
children at home or empty-nesters – finding balance between couple time and
life’s demands can be an ongoing challenge. Paul and I thought once our
children left home we would have plenty of time to spend together, but the
reality was we filled up extra time with new commitments. Volunteer activities
and extra projects at work replaced time spent at our kid’s sporting events. Open
spots on our calendar quickly filled. We soon realized that our relationship
was once again on the back burner. We realized that in order to say ‘yes’ to
our relationship we had to say ‘no’ to some other things.
Being Intentional
Paul: Since I am a task oriented person, it’s easy for me to
put projects before people. I get focused on accomplishing my to-do list and sometimes
forget that there are people (with feelings) involved. One way I strive to keep
our work – life balance in check is by setting limited times for things like
answering email and doing extra work from home. I’m also intentional about
making my relationship with Stephanie a priority by having regular date nights,
asking for forgiveness when there is a hurt between us, and making time each
day for us to talk.
Re-Evaluation
Even when we are intentional and say ‘no’ to extra stuff, the
busyness seems to creep in unsuspectingly over time. Without realizing it, we
still manage to get ourselves back on the busy train and things get out of
whack. The tool we use to set this right is re-evaluation. We use a calendar
reminder every three months to discuss this question: How are we spending our
time and what adjustments do we need to make? Having that regular gut check
helps keep us focused on what’s most
important – us. When necessary, we make a list of what we’re going to let go of
in order to keep our relationship a priority.
What is your secret to a healthy work – life balance? Please
share in the comments below.
When we notice a long stretch of evening commitments on our calendar, we write "SCHEDULE NOTHING" on an evening before and after the busy time. We're sure to spend that time alone relaxing and connecting.
ReplyDeleteGreat idea - thank you for sharing! We do something similar by writing "FAMILY DAY" on the calendar and we're not allowed to allow anything else to creep in on those days.
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