Five Tips for Balancing a Baby and a Career You Love

SBLI of Massachusetts

December 14, 2010

Having a child is one of the most wondrous events you and your spouse will ever experience. During the first few months, it’s likely you will take time off from work in order to bond with your newborn. Once you are ready to return to work and put your little one into the arms of your childcare provider, you may find that balancing both a career and a baby isn’t as easy as you had hoped.
There are a few ways that you can balance the parenthood/career tightrope and keep everything in check.

• Create realistic goals for both child rearing and your career: Wanting every available promotion, every special assignment, as well as making your own organic baby food from scratch are great goals, but they aren’t always realistic for working parents. Write down your goals and determine which are realistic and can be achieved without great sacrifice, and which can’t.
• Create a schedule that promotes work/life balance: Living with a schedule will not only help you fit everything into each day, but it also helps you let go of certain tasks without guilt. If your schedule notes that you are to leave work every day at 5PM, then you won’t feel as guilty when you do. Likewise, if your schedule requires housework only on weekends, you won’t feel guilty about not doing it during the week. Your schedule gives you permission to focus on one task at a time.
• Hire help: There is no reason to do everything yourself. You can hire someone to help clean your home, do your laundry, and even run errands for you so that you can do something more important, like spending time with your child.
• Don’t forget to take time for yourself: A worn out parent and professional is a cranky, resentful parent and professional. Make sure to set aside time for yourself so that you don’t feel restricted by all your obligations.
• Go easy on yourself: No matter how many goals you don’t reach or mistakes you make along the way, go easy on yourself. Re-evaluate what you’ve been doing and how close it’s gotten you to your desired result and recreate your plan as necessary.