Showing all posts tagged family

In Business & Blogging, Family Time

Working From Home & Family

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on
Working From Home & Family

I’ve juggled working from home and a family for twelve years. Going freelance or starting your own business offers a lot more flexibility when it comes to managing a family and working. It isn’t always easy to find ways of managing your family and the home while building a career or a business, but it is worth the effort if you think it is right for you. Work life balance is essential and hopefully these tips will help you juggle working from home and a family too.

Prioritising

To start with, the first steps always has to be the abilities to prioritise. You need to think about what matters to you the most. Is it spending more time with your family? Or being able to challenge yourself with work? Or it could be that you feel fulfilled in your career and be a great mother, wife, daughter, or whatever else. And when this is the case, you have to set your priorities. There’s no wrong answer here. Obviously you want to be there for your family and do right by them however working the number of hours you need or want to work is fine, you just need to find the balance.

Scheduling

When you know what your priorities are, you need to factor them in when it comes to scheduling. You really need to make sure that your day-to-day activities and actions mirror that and establishing a routine is just so important. I use a colour coded Google Calendar for everything from school trips to medical appointments to when the food shopping will be delivered.

It is OK to Ask For Help

You need to make sure that you’ve got the support that you need, both professionally and personally. Maybe you need a nanny full-time or someone for a few hours. I used a fabulous local childminder when my youngest was little which made all the difference. It’s ok if you need more help,  like Porthaven, with elderly family members. You wouldn’t think twice if they needed more help, so why second-guess yourself? Working from home-wise, use a virtual assistant to help lighten the load of give you cover during holiday times.

Setting Expectations

It’s just so important for you to be able to set your expectations at the right levels. Do you expect more help around the home? For your children to be somewhat independent and less reliant on you? Or maybe you want to set expectations with your work and clients, so that you’re only ever working set hours. Either way, if you set expectations in your mind, you’re going to find it all the more easier to establish a healthy balance here.

Working from home and managing a family at the same time is hard at times but honestly, I love my life! I’ve worked hard to balance everything else and prioritise some self-care time too. Try and make sure you do the same as you can only burn the candle at both ends for so long before you get burned!

 

In Business & Blogging

Settling Family Disputes Without Ruining Relationships

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

family

Families can be extremely hard to deal with sometimes. I’m from a big family (I have three brothers and two sisters) and thankfully we all rub along really well. As adults now with out own families we are closer than ever. From talking to friends and so on though, our lack of family woes seems to be quite rare. As the old saying goes, “you can choose your friends but not your family”. That’s all well and good but sometimes forcing a relationship with family members you’re not fond of can be a mistake, as issues will come to the surface sooner rather than later.

Sometimes, a family dispute will start. Social conflict at some level is inevitable now and again, and of course, it will blossom or corruptly grow in the family structure you spend most of your time with. The method here isn’t to avoid this from happening. Sometimes, you simply can’t. When a disagreement occurs, no matter what it is, a clean and sensible solution is important to come to. In order to lessen the potential difficulties and relationship breakdowns, consider:

Impartiality

Settling whatever issue is harming the family in a place of pure impartiality can be very important, especially if it is a big issue rather than a small grumble. It might be that the dispute needs to take place within the guidance of family law solicitors, and even family therapy can be a massive help as far as this is concerned. Sometimes you simply need a final answer backed up legally. It might be that there are disputes over the meaning left in a passed relatives will. Family law solicitors are used to this sort of inquiry, and will often do everything they can to find the correct solution.

Proximity

Proximity to your family members can sometimes cause arguments, however, it can completely depend on the situation. If you have noticed that you can hardly say anything without another family member having something to say about it, then it can be really damaging. That is when it can be a good time to move them from your home or remove yourself from the current situation that you are in. You might find that a lot of arguments and issues can arise with siblings, as well as parents, when your parents get older. You might have discussions around the future and a potential live in care situation for them, but that can be a cause of contention for some. But if it is all getting too much, remove yourself from the scenario. Seriously, we are all grown-ups. If you find that you cannot be around an uncle or sibling or whoever without it turning into arguments, stay away. Life is too short for arguments and nastiness. This leads nicely to my next point.

Civility

It’s important to be civil with your family no matter what. When all is said and done, they are still your blood. They might not be the people you most respect in this world, but that doesn’t mean the intensity of a familial relationship gives you, them or anybody the right to remain aggressive and stir the pot even more roughly. If you’re civil on your side, then you have removed at least 50% of the potential aggression from the situation. That’s good enough. It may be that you take the high road, but either way, keeping it polite is always the best idea, otherwise things get out of hand.

Families can be complex. If you find yourself at odds with a family member consider these points. Avoid Jeremy Kyle like screaming matches and trying and resolve things or not make things worse by remaining polite and keeping your distance. Life really is too short to spend it caught up in things that make us feel bad.

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