Leveraging Roles and Responsibilities to Optimize Life-Work Balance

April 21
Roles and Responsibilities, an Excerpt from Chapter One: Life-Work Balance, from our upcoming Ask Linda e-Book
Dear Linda, as a new mom and an up-and-coming product manager, I’m feeling quite overwhelmed. Of course my baby and my family are my first priority, and I want to be the perfect wife and mother. But I also have a lot of responsibilities at work, and an understanding but demanding boss. How can I do it all? She who-is-overwhelmed
Dear She, Congratulations to you and your family! I’m sure that you and your husband had many conversations about how to manage work and life prior-to-baby, but things change when it actually happens! Below is some advice I’ve culled from successful professional moms from our network.
1. Decide not to have it all, and not all at the same time.
2. Once you’ve decided that, decide which roles and responsibility you want to do, or are especially good at, and allocate the time to do those things well. Is it cooking? Is it playtime? Is it reading a book to your child before naptime?
3. List all the other things that must-be-done, but not necessarily by you. Then work with your husband and others in your network to decide who gets delegated what over what period of time.
4. Outsource the little, unimportant things. Find a way to pay for them. It’s worth it!
5. Build a network of other families with similar values and interests and support each other in your work-life balance targets.
6. Share your advice and resources with this network.
7. Welcome change, although all change can be stressful. Life would be dull without it.
8. Change your agreements on roles and responsibilities as things change for you, your husband and your child.
9. Decide to enjoy yourself, whether you’re at work or at home. Don’t get stressed over something that is not your direct responsibility at the time.
10. Celebrate your successes and enjoy the ride.
Best of luck as you being your journey. I hope that you find the advice helpful.
Linda

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