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When I was little, I really didn't know what I wanted to be when I grew up. At one point, I thought I would work in a bank because that's where the money was. After undergraduate, I just knew that I wanted to be done with school and start working. Who knew that I would end up going to business school for another two years and get my MBA. While there, I joined an organization called NAWMBA - National Association of Women MBA's and it was during one of the events that the topic of work life balance came up. It is a very interesting topic because its honestly a lot harder to be a woman in the corporate world and try to balance work and your personal life - kids, family, etc.
Many of the speakers spoke about how different it was to be a woman in a man's working world. Men get praised if they leave work early to attend their kids' games or recitals. Women, on the other hand, are looked down upon. Men who are vocal are seen as aggresive while women are called witches, drama queens, etc. Unfortunately, this double standard has been around for as long as we've existed.
I think that things are slowly progressing for working women in the work force. You still need to work a bit harder just to stay in the game. But at the same time, there are different expectations for working mothers than there are for working fathers. Women lose a bit of credability when they have kids and have to work harder to show thier commitment to the job. It is totally different for men. Here are a few tips for working women who are having trouble balancing their work and home lives:
Many of the speakers spoke about how different it was to be a woman in a man's working world. Men get praised if they leave work early to attend their kids' games or recitals. Women, on the other hand, are looked down upon. Men who are vocal are seen as aggresive while women are called witches, drama queens, etc. Unfortunately, this double standard has been around for as long as we've existed.
I think that things are slowly progressing for working women in the work force. You still need to work a bit harder just to stay in the game. But at the same time, there are different expectations for working mothers than there are for working fathers. Women lose a bit of credability when they have kids and have to work harder to show thier commitment to the job. It is totally different for men. Here are a few tips for working women who are having trouble balancing their work and home lives:
- First and foremost, don't feel like you have to conquer the world and do everything (both at work and at home)
- Divide and conquer - communicate with your co-workers (and partner) to ensure that everyone is doing thier fair share of the work
- Communication is key. Keep lines of communciaton open - talk to your supervisors, colleagues and subordinates to ensure that everyone knows exactly what is going on.
- When you are at work, focus on your job. When you are at home, focus on your family. There is no point in stressing out about something that happened in the office when you are home.
- Find a good child care/baby sitting situation so that you feel at ease when dropping your kids off - consider a good monitoring system if someone comes to your home to babysit
- Even though you would like to be a super parent 24/7, sometimes you just need a break. Schedule some time away from the kids with your partner or a night out with the girls.
- Work and Family are a huge part of your life, but it shouldn't be your entire life.
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