Career Vs Family: What would you choose?

One of the challenges facing many people today is balancing career and family. Many people find it easy to defend the long hours and the endless attention they give their jobs. “After all, without the job the family suffers financially,” they claim. It is a fact that in order to ensure that a family is taken care of, you need to spend the time necessary to keep your business or career moving forward. But as much as this makes sense; it has led to the breakup of many relationships and families. You have probably heard stories of women packing their bags and leaving their husbands saying they didn’t ‘marry the house.’ ‘My husband is always away; when he’s back he’s always busy with his laptop,’ is the mantra: Or kids who spend months without seeing their parents because they come home late when they are sound asleep and leave very early in the morning before they wake up . The complaints are endless. In today’s world it is important that you learn how to balance career and family because when things get out of hand, one or both of these necessary institutions will suffer, leading to failure. Here is how you can seek to balance the two. The first and best thing you must learn is how to make family your number one priority. Jobs, friends and colleagues will come and go, but it is your family that will always stay no matter what. Therefore, you should always make them number one in your life. When in the office, focus on your work. But, also keep track of what’s going on at home and with your kids. Make sure that they can reach you anytime if there is a problem. If you work on weekends and holidays, when you finally get some days off, make sure you spend every minute of every hour with your family. Make up for all the lost time you’ve been away. Also team-up with your partner when it comes to taking care or giving extra time and attention to your kids. When with your family, put work aside. Do not come home to be with family yet your thoughts are still with your business. Your family will know that you are distracted. Share some quality-time with your partner. Treat each other as very good friends. Keep communication flowing, stay connected each day through phone calls or text messaging. Most jobs give an hour for lunch, you can utilize this time to rush home and share lunch with your family. Create some alone-time. Many people ignore the importance of personal time. In order to have enough emotional energy for your career and your family you need to make sure you have some personal time to do what you love. This will help you charge your life battery and keep your focused. martin.bishop18@yahoo.com