Balancing the Boardroom and the Brood Westminster

Working parents have a range of options available to help physically balance their work and family lives, but a leading parenting expert says that these enough when it comes to raising a happy well-balanced family.  The Work and Families Act 2006 increased the range of employment rights for parents and carers, but these only cover the practical side of parenting, such as flexible working to ease the time management issues that parents face. Employers rarely acknowledge the really important, and often totally neglected emotional side to parenting.

The real issue facing working parents is the emotional effect of being away from their family for long periods of time, and their feelings of guilt. From the parents that I coach, and the increasing number of these who are high-flying career women, it is apparent that they battle with their emotional feelings when trying to balance a successful working life with a harmonious family life.  The biggest issue raised is that they cannot get their employers to acknowledge the emotional difficulties they are facing.

Survey results issued in May 2009 by the Chartered Institute of Professional Development showed that the majority of UK employees (54%) agree they have a good work/life balance, but a third (34%) say that their employer did not provide any support in achieving a work/life balance. 

This data reflects what I am finding when I coach working parents. Whilst many forward-thinking organisations provide business coaching for guidance through important work transitions, rarely do these employers provide the same level of support or acknowledgement of the emotional difficulties experienced from family issues at home. If the employer isn’t recognising the difficulties or addressing these problems then what can parents do?

Here are my tips to ease balancing the boardroom and the brood and make being a working parent easier, more rewarding and far more enjoyable all round:

1. Stop feeling guilty that you are a working parent - turn down that inner voice that says, “Good mums stay at home with their kids.” Replace it with one that says, “I’m doing my best and I love my kids.”
2. Get the best childcare you can afford - you don’t want to spend time at work worrying about your child so see a range of nurseries, childminders or nannies and find the one that feels intuitively right for you and your child.
3. Let your standards slip - even if you find this really hard, acknowledge that you can’t work and have a perfect home. If you can afford it, get help with practical tasks such as the ironing and cleaning.
4. Reduce morning stress. The Cornflake Hour ... get everything ready the night before - packed lunch, clean uniform, homework done, spellings, etc. Don’t waste valuable time hunting for, and doing, things at the last minute.
5. Focus on the positive - when you’ve had a bad day make a list of the positive reason...

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