subject: 5 Ways To Readjust Your Work Schedule And Spend More Time With Your Kids [print this page] Where do you spend the majority of your day? If you're like most of us, you spend at least a third of it at work. The other third sleeping. With only eight hours a day, sometimes less, to eat, bathe, run errands, commute, relax and, on a good day, spend some time with your family.
Which particular eight hour segment of the day should you think about changing for the better? What portion doesn't feel right? You do need the eight or so hours of sleep to be healthy, to keep your energy up and allow your body to repair itself for another hectic day. You need to spend time with your family to keep your sanity and maintain good relationships. Unfortunately, those errands and other daily chores aren't going to go away.
So that leaves your work day. What in those eight hours can be readjusted without blowing it all up?
Five Ways to Spend More Time with your Kids and Less at Work
1) Talk to your boss about telecommuting a couple of days a week. Remember, though, working from home means doing the same thing at home you would be doing at work. You will not be able to take those eight hours and play games with your kids. You will be able to eat lunch with them and do some special things. There is something relaxing while working furiously from a desk with your laptop while your toddler quietly colors with crayons on the floor beside you.
2) Look into a flex-time option. Can you work twelve hour shifts three days a week and put in a half day on the fourth instead of five eight-hour shifts? Can you work sixty hours one week and forty the next? Those long days are gonna hurt, I'm not going to lie, but the return you get on your days off makes it all worth it.
3) Locate a day care facility near your workplace. This isn't always an option but if it can work for you it is a great solution. You can meet your child in the daycare center along with his friends for lunch and a little play time. Your child will feel special because mommy came to see him and you will feel great being able to see him in the middle of your work day.
4) If your kids are in school and your spouse is willing, consider working the overnight shift. If your children are in school, why not go to work when they go to bed? Overnight shifts are a great way to work around your kids' waking hours, and then you can sleep through the day while they're gone. This really only works when they're a little older, however; most little ones aren't going to let you sleep through the day on their days off!
5) Be a freelancer or private contractor. The time for setting up your own business has arrived. Don't underestimate the discipline and determination involved in starting and growing your business. The positives of doing so, however, are numerous. You can work from home, on your schedule without worries over daycare, sick days or scrambling to make time for vacations.
Whichever option suits you, you are sure to find more hours to spend with the most important people in your life. Any choice that helps you to do that is a good one.
