Balancing Work, Study, and Free Time as a Parent

Do you ever feel as if you don’t have enough time in the day to accomplish everything? It is quite difficult to find time for your paperwork and homework as a working and studying parent.  It can be even more frustrating for a parent to couple work with studies and still have a family to cater to. Such a parent may find it hard to have free time for paperwork and homework.

The life of working and studying parents is that they put other things like the home and work before themselves. This demands a lot of attention and time. For this reason, most working and studying parents find it much more difficult to find time to engage in their hobbies and, most significantly, relax.

So, it is true that activities at home coupled with an office workload can rob you of your free time for finishing your school work as a parent. Follow the below steps to unlock your schedule: 

Get A Support System

Regarding the aspect of taking care of your home as working and studying parents, you can get a support system like household support. According to a recent research estimate, parents are said to spend 6.5 hours a day on housework. It is crucial to overlook the odds of this strategy to free up time and resources for your homework and paperwork.

Household supporters are the ones that help in running the household chores such as cooking, laundry, cleaning, errands, bathing for the children, etc. Their usefulness in the house can never be overemphasized because they can help manage the house on one’s behalf. They are very willing to work well if their demands are well met. 

As a studying parent, get a support system like reliable friends to help you to get some necessary things done on your behalf in school while you pay attention to your paperwork and homework. 

Delegate Responsibilities

One of the essential things about having few kids is the joy of delegating house chores and roles among them. Giving out a few duties to the older ones who can do the work ideally is exciting as it gives one free time to do other things. The younger ones are guaranteed to be well cared for by the older ones. With the help of the older ones, working parents can ensure their free time is secure.

Working parents with just one or two kids can decide to share the responsibility as a couple. A working couple who just turned into a parent can choose to share their parenting duties. This will enable them to have enough free time to do anything. 

Also, you can delegate your school and office responsibilities like your homework and paperwork to some businesses who are specialized in this kind of thing. Note that there are several businesses online that can help you with your paperwork and homework. Just do online research about them and choose the one suitable for your use.

Create And Organize Family Calendar

Organizing and creating a family calendar is a very thoughtful thing to do. This will ease a lot of stress and gives a sense of direction to a parent that works and studies. Such a household will know what to do in a day and how to go about certain things there.

Such a calendar can include dates of specific special events like birthdays, school activities and events, family events, and some extracurricular activities. It would be best to use a tool like Google calendar, which can be easily shared and synced on smartphones.

Ask For Help From Family Members

It would help if you asked for help from supporting family members. Don’t ask for help from any family members but those who are very supportive and loving. It is once quoted that when one family member is in need, everyone deploys to offer aid. This is what supportive family members are noted for 

As a parent working and studying, you must ask for help at one point in a while. You can take your wares to your mother or sister in another town for a bit to have some free time for yourself. During the children’s holidays, you can take them to any available family members around you for that short period. 

Communicate With Your Employers

Try talking to your employers about your condition, but before that, create a detailed strategy outlining your requirements before speaking with your employer or HR personnel. 

Prepare yourself to offer alternate approaches, such as a trial run of your anticipated work schedule to demonstrate that the arrangement won’t limit production and you will be more effective despite the changes that may occur. This will give your employer no benefit of the doubt.

Also, when dealing with a supervisor as a mom taking maternity leave, try to have your questions ready. Questions like: How much time can I take off is one of the two most important questions. In addition to “How much of that time will be paid?”. Learn how to ask your employers about their plan to give you some time off the job with a short-term or vacation/sick leave.

Cancel Unnecessary Events

Try to pay attention to attending necessary events that can consume your time as much as possible. Events like coworker birthday parties, housewarming, wedding anniversaries, office throw up, etc. Use these periods as your free time to relax, refresh yourself, and plan for yourself.

Be disciplined enough to refuse to attend any unplanned programs and activities not listed in your schedules. Avoid attending Impromptu programs that are not necessarily related to your work or studies. Remember that your time is significant. You can only participate in such a program if it is deemed important and compulsory.

Indeed, some events may be listed in your schedules for that day. However, you may find some of these events optional to attend. Cancel such an event and use it as your free time!

Bottomline

It is overwhelming for a parent to couple work and studies together. This can be time-consuming and energy-taking. So wisdom must be applied to manage the whole thing and still stand out as a good parent to the family and society. At this stage, know that working and studying as a parent can be very frustrating if some strategic steps are not in place to help one. Try applying those steps, and you will surely experience some free time.