We all know that you can have both a family and a career.<\/p>\n
But the bigger question is if you can have both a family and a thriving career. Will you be able to hit the goals you set for yourself? Will you truly be able to have it all?<\/p>\n
You can have both a fulfilling career and a happy home life if you seek balance.<\/p>\n
But let\u2019s say you\u2019re determined to be the person who puts in the most hours at the office. You arrive at 8 a.m. and stay till 8 p.m. You say yes to everything, including frequent travel.<\/p>\n
Or let\u2019s say you\u2019re determined to be a super mom. You sign your child up for every activity there is. You say yes to everything, including every play date and every opportunity to volunteer at your child\u2019s school.<\/p>\n
If you aspire to either of those two extremes, you\u2019re setting yourself up for a life of stress where you\u2019re always coming up short.<\/p>\n
Luckily, there is a better way.<\/p>\n
True work\/life balance takes planning, discipline, and\u2014most of all\u2014setting priorities. You\u2019ll obviously have to figure out for yourself what that means for you, but here are a few tips to get you started.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Have a clear goal. You can\u2019t achieve your definition of career success unless you know what that is. Spend some upfront time clarifying your vision\u2014and begin to build your strategy for getting there.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Be intentional with your time. It\u2019s easy to burn a half hour reading the news, checking social media, or online shopping\u2014and there\u2019s nothing wrong with any or those things. The trick is to make sure that you\u2019re using your time the way you intended. If it\u2019s time to work, then work. If it\u2019s time to play board games with the kids, put your phone away. Of course you need down time, but it should be time that you plan for and enjoy without feeling guilty because you\u2019re supposed to be doing something else.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Find a mentor. Ideally, this will be someone who was once in the same situation as you and knows how to pursue a career while raising a young family. Accept the gift of time and advice at this point in your life, knowing that you will pay it forward to someone else someday.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Find a company that\u2019s flexible. In today\u2019s work culture, flexibility is highly desired by everyone, not just moms. Finding a progressive company will allow you to shuffle things around so that you can make the most of your time at work and at home.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Lose the guilt. Do you wish you could be there to protect and coddle your kids every minute? That\u2019s called helicopter parenting and the truth is that it\u2019s not all that great for kids anyway.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Don\u2019t compare yourself to anyone else. You\u2019ve got a clear idea of your goals. Don\u2019t let anyone distract you from what you want out of life. There will always be somebody who is more this or more that than you. Your goal is to be the best version of yourself\u2014not anybody else.<\/p>\n
At StorageMart<\/a>, we love to celebrate the good we see in all of the communities we serve. Women\u2019s History Month<\/a> is the perfect opportunity to say thank you to all of the women who work so hard<\/a> to make their corner of the world a better place.<\/p>\n