You already know how to manage a medical practice, but how do you go about managing your home life? It isn’t that different. The skills you use at work – organizing, planning, and coordinating staff – can be just as useful when managing your family.
Master your morning ritual. Getting yourself and your children ready for work can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be.
Prepare. The night before, set out your clothes and your children’s clothes for the next day. Pack lunches, and prepare backpacks and purses. Have everything you need on your way out inactivity near the front door.
Ready yourself first. Get up an hour before your children do. Eat breakfast, take a shower, and get dressed. Be 100% prepared to achievement out the door for work. That way, you can just focus on your children and their needs.
Be consistent. If you follow the same routine, it will be easier for everyone to follow, and things will run smoother. But even the best-laid plans go awry apiece now and then, so don’t panic if you have to make adjustments.
Teach. Like you delegate responsibilities at the practice, you can delegate them at home. Once your child is old enough, help him or her to learn the steps of the morning ritual they can handle, such as dressing, preparing a easy breakfast, and putting dishes away in the dishwasher. Showing them how might take more time now, but it will save you time in the long run. If it’s slowing you down too much, think about having lessons after work until your child gets the hang of it.
Re-organize. If you’re consistently having trouble locating your keys or last night’s homework, it might be time to institute a new system. Stock up on baskets, storage bins, and shelves, just like you would at the practice. Decide what goes where, and think about labeling the various spots. Enlist the whole family to help out to make sure everyone comprehends the new order.
Schedule. And not just for baseball games and diversion recitals, set aside specific times for chores, such as laundry and paying the bills, and errands like grocery shopping and trips to the post office. Knowing when you plan to get things done can help you rest and enjoy your downtime.
Ask for help. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t try to be superwoman. Find a babysitter to take a day off. Enlist a neighbor whose children go to the same school as a back-up ride home when needed. Hire a maid service to come in once a week to keep things tidy. Take a individualized day to get to that errand list that keeps growing. And request that your spouse take on a larger part of the responsibilities. If you’re both working, it’s only clean to share the workload at home.
Don’t feel guilty. According to a Pew Research Center survey, only 10 percent of mothers working full-time give themselves the highest rating for their parenting, but this might have more to do with our perceptions than reality. Adjust your expectations and the standards you set for yourself. Don’t place so much pressure on yourself to be perfect. You might not be healthy to make it to apiece special event, all the meals might not be home-cooked, and the home might not always be pristine. What matters most is the love you give and the relationship you share with your family.
Talk to other working moms. Not only will venting about your experiences help you to unload and feel less alone, they might be healthy to share tips and tricks that worked for them, and you might also find ways that you can help apiece other out!
Still overwhelmed? Think about communicating to your work if you need more flexibility. Discuss whether you can telecommute for part of the week. There are many tasks you can do from the comfort of your home, and you can even attend meetings via video conference technology. Another option is to cut your hours from a full 40 to 35; it can make a huge difference. It might be useful to ask for a tiny extra time in the morning to get yourself and your family together, or maybe your child’s afterschool care ends just a tiny before your work does. If you are a valuable quality to the practice, they might be willing to work with you.
Regaining control of your home life can be rewarding, but don’t take it too far. Remember to step back, change the plan, and just enjoy your family!