Systems
Managing a relationship is one thing, but when you add children to the mix, ‘ad-hoc’ just won’t do. At least it won’t if you want to perform well in your career, maintain a happy relationship with your partner and raise happy kids.
And to say that you’re ‘time poor’ when you’re a career mum is perhaps the understatement of the year. Which is why systems are such an essential part of achieving a work/life balance.
Putting systems in place is in effect ‘buying extra time’ for yourself, because it allows you to prioritise and organise your life, ensuring the important things are done on time, the first time.
Embrace change
Your systems are the daily activities, processes and procedures that you will need to engage in so you can have a happy and prosperous home and work life.
In Not Guilty the ‘Systems’ chapter helps you to think about what systems, processes and procedures you need to maintain your work/life balance.
But systems are not all about rigidity, structure and order.
By embracing change, giving up on perfectionism, and being comfortable with chaos, you can learn to distinguish between what’s essential and what’s not.
And you’ll suddenly find you always have time for the things that really matter.
What are your systems?
Once children arrive in your life, your life will change and you need to accept that and embrace it.
And you’ll need to put systems in place to ensure the really important things happen.
When things don’t work, think about what process you can change or what system you could put in place to fix it.
And always remember that just because you are a mother doesn’t mean that you stop being a friend, a sister, a daughter, a lover or a colleague.
The things that make you happy are so often the things that you put to one side once you have children because you don’t think we can spare the time anymore. But instead of deleting those things from your life, just put systems in place to make them happen and change your expectations.
Because implementing systems allows you to stay connected, healthy and happy.
Want to enjoy both motherhood and your career without feeling guilty?
Find out more about how Not Guilty can help you change from exhausted, guilt-ridden headless-chicken to happy career woman, wife and mother…at least some of the time!