Many working parents find it difficult to balance holidays and work, but today we’ll show you the easiest way to enjoy this season with your family. While you may have to work during the holiday break, you can take part in family activities on the weekends and other moments during the holidays.
Below are some tips to help you better balance being a working parent during the holiday season.
Set Priorities
The best way to truly balance holidays and work is to set your priorities. Figure out what’s going to be most important during your kids’ holiday break. Determine how much time you have beyond work hours and what you will do with those hours to prioritize family time.
Be Proactive
Think ahead about any issues or extra hours or mishaps that may occur at work, leaving you unable to balance holidays and work. This will be an easy step if you’ve been at your job for a while. You should be able to accurately predict any issues that could arise, or at least handle them immediately when they do so that you can better balance holidays and work.
Negotiate Hours, if Possible
Try to negotiate different hours for the holiday break. Your boss may allow you to work different hours during your kids’ holiday break. They could opt to let you work remotely if that’s a realistic possibility with your job position. Try to see what you can do to make the work hours be more reasonable during the kids’ holiday break so you can get more balance in your life during this short school vacation time.
Limit All Extra Work-Related Activities
Take a peek at your schedule and see what other activities or events are planned for the week of your kids’ holiday break. Remove all extra work-related and non-necessary appointments or activities from your schedule. This will allow you to have some extra free time for the kids. Removing all of the extra unnecessary stuff from your schedule will help you better balance holidays and work.
Be Mindful and Present
Last, but certainly not least, when you’re with the kids please put away the cell phone and any other distraction. During the holidays you must be more mindful about being present with your family and kids. This is the time of year when your kids are excited about the school vacation, and you should enjoy the quality time with them as it won’t be there forever.
If you use the above tips, you’ll find that you quickly learn how working parents can balance holidays and work more easily. We hope that you find these tips useful and enjoy spending the holiday season being present with your kids.