How to enjoy both work and parenthood to the fullest

You want to grow in your career and be there for your child or children. But sometimes it feels as though there simply are not enough hours in the day. You want to be a good mother or father, perform well at work and somehow still find time to recharge. Guilt is never far away: are you doing enough, on every front? And what happens when your energy starts to run out? Sound familiar? You are not alone.

At Lifeguard, we help parents who want to live and work more consciously. So you do not have to choose between enjoying your work and enjoying family life, but can experience both. You can live an ambitious life, in the broadest sense of the word.

Enjoyment looks different for everyone. For one person, it might mean a calm morning without rushing. For someone else, it could be a challenging project at work that gives them energy.

Take a moment to consider what matters to you:

• What helps you recharge?
• When do you feel fulfilled?
• What does a day look like when you go to bed with a smile on your face?

Perhaps you need more calm, more time with your family, or simply more space for yourself. By becoming clear about your own definition of enjoyment, you can make more conscious choices instead of feeling as though life is simply happening to you. In this way, you become more present in your own life and experience a greater sense of autonomy.

When your energy runs out, everyone feels the effects: you, your children and your work. Self-care is not a luxury; it is a necessity.

Make sure you get enough sleep, eat nourishing food and create small moments of relaxation. Build micro-breaks into your day, such as a short breathing exercise between meetings or a walk after lunch.

Create regular rituals too: a cup of tea in silence before picking up the children, or a quiet moment before going to bed. Small habits can have a big impact.

Are you actually aware of your own rituals and whether they are helping you? Or have you developed habits, consciously or unconsciously, that undermine you? For example, comparing yourself at work with colleagues who do not have children, or comparing yourself with an ‘older version’ of yourself from before you became a parent.

You can want everything, but you cannot do everything at the same time. Setting priorities means consciously deciding what matters now and what can wait. It is about being able to reassess and lead your life in a way that makes you happy today and supports sustainable performance, rather than following an idea of success you came up with 20 years ago.

You could use the Eisenhower Matrix, for example:

• Important and urgent: do it now
• Important, not urgent: schedule it
• Not important, urgent: delegate it
• Not important and not urgent: remove it

By looking at your day or week through these four quadrants, you create more space to enjoy the things that truly matter.

Optimising starts with reducing. Setting priorities also means identifying what you are not going to do, at least for now, or what you are going to do differently. This is exactly what helps you perform sustainably and enjoy both your work and your family more.

Boundaries help you protect your energy. Set clear working hours for yourself, close your laptop on time and consciously put your phone away during family time.

Setting boundaries starts with deciding what ‘good enough’ means to you, both as a professional and as a parent. A realistic view of yourself, combined with realistic goals, is the starting point for healthy boundaries. Boundaries create space.

Communicate those boundaries, both at home and at work. That way, colleagues and family members know what to expect from you, and you avoid being constantly ‘on’. Boundaries create calm, trust and clarity.

A regular routine makes life more predictable, and therefore calmer.

Use a family planner or weekly overview to keep track of all your commitments. Work with time blocks to create focus and add buffer time between activities.

A morning routine can help you start the day with more energy, for example with ten minutes of movement or a few moments of silence.

In the evening, you can end the day with a brief reflection: what went well today, and what am I grateful for?

Try starting with small steps and link them to everyday habits you already have. This makes them easier to maintain and requires less energy.

Parenthood is full of surprises: a sick child, an urgent task at work or getting stuck in traffic when childcare is about to close. However well you plan, unexpected situations will always arise.

Prepare for them by building buffer time into your diary and having a back-up plan: who could step in if needed?

Even more importantly, develop a realistic mindset based on acceptance and self-compassion. Not everything has to be perfect. Sometimes ‘good enough’ is exactly what the situation requires.

Balance is not a final destination, but an ongoing process. A process of growth rather than struggle. What works well now may no longer fit your life a few months from now.

That is why it is important to regularly take time to reflect: how are you feeling? What gives you energy, and what drains it? Adjust where necessary, without judgement.

Would you like to discover how to find a better balance between work and parenthood without losing yourself in the process? Learn more about Lifeguard’s Top Mom and Top Parent programmes.