Managing Work-Life Balance During Return to School

A good work-life balance has numerous positive effects, such as less stress, lower risk of burnout and greater well-being. Whether you work from home or commute to your office daily, taking care of kids in school can be challenging. Follow these tips to help manage work-life balance during return to school.

Set a Schedule
Try to adapt your schedule around your children’s activities. If you’re fortunate enough to work a flexible job or in a remote environment, you may be able to shift your hours to accommodate your children’s school and activity schedules. You may find it helpful to be home when your kids return from school each day. To accommodate for this, you could shift your work schedule to start earlier or work later.

This doesn’t mean you should be sacrificing sleep. A lack of sleep can increase stress, affect alertness, distort memory and hurt your physical health. Since your children need more rest, plan earlier bedtimes to help you finish your work without sacrificing sleep. The ability to adjust your schedule may be dependent on where you work and what your role is. Be sure to discuss any changes you want to propose with your manager.

Communicate Your Needs
Communicate with your employer about schedule changes during the school year. Your children’s transition back to school can be a lot to handle for your family. Most employers are willing to help you adjust your day or provide necessary support and resources.

Get Help
Paying for additional assistance is not feasible for everyone, but if you can afford it, there are options available to help make life more efficient. There are services available to help shuttle kids to school, nanny and take care of other tasks, such as grocery shopping or picking up dry cleaning. Depending on your needs and financial situation, there may be services available to you. Paying for an external service to help with certain aspects of your day can help you spend more time with your family.