Leadership Viewpoint

As I reviewed my site statistics, I found that more people are interested in this topic than any other, so I figured I’d share a bit more on the topic. I laugh thinking that my stay-at-home mother never would have worried about this topic – truly this is a sign of the times. And the truth is, I gave her a hard time over the holidays last month when she marveled that her son had cooked a dish for Christmas dinner, while simultaneously taking it for granted that her daughter-in-law did pretty much everything else (while also working full time). My mother’s retort was that she takes it for granted that a woman will successfully multi-task!

My suspicion is that my mother’s thinking is commonplace, and that this type of thinking continues to put tremendous pressure on women to perform at unrealistic levels. As women try to live up to these unrealistic expectations, we become frustrated and place pressure on the men in our lives to help us, and then they feel the heat too. Of course, in households with a solitary adult, especially those with children present, the challenge of balancing work and home is often magnified. So what to do?

First, manage expectations. Communicate realistic expectations to those around you. This means sharing, with some clarity, exactly what you expect of both yourself and those around you. This applies both on the job and at home.

Second, set clear goals for each area of your life. There’s an excellent article (if I do say so myself!) that will walk you through this process here: http://www.adv-leadership-grp.com/Goal_Setting_Article.html.

Third, plan your time accordingly. This means scheduling fun, work, chores, down time, etc. People often tell me that they don’t think they should have to ‘schedule’ fun. Guess what? When they don’t schedule it in, they often don’t make time for it. If it’s important, be sure to actually schedule it.

Fourth, review what you’ve laid out every month or so, make any necessary adjustments and communicate those adjustments to everyone that matters in your life. Continually communicate and manage expectations. The more you communicate, the higher the odds that others in your life will find ways to support you and accept the resulting outcomes.

Of course, all this took your time, so go do something relaxing for yourself!

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