Are you putting yourself first?
We work to live and not the other way around, or at least, that’s what we aim to do. An even better scenario would be to work flexible hours in order to live the life we want to.
When you’re a working parent it is very hard to put yourself first. Largely because there are significant others who go before you, i.e. your children. Yet surely when it comes to your working conditions, you should be able to put yourself first. On the whole, and depending on your role and industry, a 9-5 Monday to Friday working pattern is deemed out-dated (see #WorkThatWorks), and a flexible working terms should be available. It’s the 21st Century, the technology available is amazing – from email to video conferencing, it’s like your there in person and real-time!
When you are a working parent, the juggle, and sometimes struggle, can be overwhelming: From doing a drop-off to nursery or school, running to join the rush-hour commute, working the 9-5 day job, to running back to nursery or school, get involved in playtime or help with homework, children’s bath then bedtime, then do the household chores before your own bedtime, to do it all over again the following day. This has anyone submitting annual leave forms just to have a few hours peace and quiet to catch up with themselves. When you’re a parent you have a role to fulfil, not a job. There is no clocking in or out of parenthood. When you throw in a full time job, it is a formula for a negative result.
However, it doesn’t have to be. Parents can get help with laundry and cleaning, but what would be extremely beneficial is for employers to help in the work place through flexible working and/or job sharing.
Through job sharing (http://shareyourjob.com/node/148) you have two people fulfilling one full time role. Both employees would be equal in talent and skill and sharing the working week. By permitting flexible working (https://www.gov.uk/flexible-working), the employee has more favourable flexible hours of working or even to work from home. All employees have the right to request flexible working, this isn’t limited to parents and carers only.
By job sharing or flexible working, as a working parent, you are putting yourself first. You are giving yourself enough of a gap in the day or week to catch up on yourself or even to embark on one of the creative passions you have, and therefore a more even work life balance. This beats feeling like you’re always on the go, hot footing from one place to the next.
If you would like to register with us to find your perfect job share partner click here.
