09/22/2008 07:42:44 AM EST
Balancing Work and Family
You have to be in court this morning, but the school just called to say that your child is sick and needs to go home. What do you do?
Balancing work and a family is not a unique problem to those practicing law. With so many dual career families and single parent households, the majority of our workforce faces these problems at some point in their working lives. That doesn’t make it any easier when you are required to be in two places at the same time. So how do you cope?
One strategy to help with the work/life balance is a flexible work schedule. If your firm or other employer permits varied working hours, use this benefit. It is a real sanity saver in a crisis. It may be necessary or best to have and post your planned work hours. However, it is important to also get approval to vary those hours for emergency situations, such as taking a sick child to the doctor. If your employer does not currently have a flexible work schedule, consider making a written proposal, noting all of the benefits to the employer, clients, and coworkers, such as more and varied office hours available to potential clients. Also, if some or all of your coworkers want more flexibility, as well, consider making a proposal together.
Working from home for some of the workweek is another possible strategy. Not all employers will permit this, but it is becoming more common. You may need to have certain set hours in the office each week, with the remainder of your time open to work at home or in the office. With a cell phone and a laptop computer, you can complete some work tasks, such as client calls, research, and document preparation virtually anywhere. If your employer is hesitant, try incorporating small bits of time at home initially to show that you can be productive in a nontraditional work environment. After giving this some time, get some feedback on how the arrangement is working and be willing to make adjustments to suite everyone’s needs.
Of course, neither a flexible work schedule nor telecommuting will help when you have two competing requirements at the same time, like court and a sick child. These situations require a lot more creativity and planning. If you have a spouse, significant other, or relative nearby, force yourself to relinquish some control and allow them to handle some family crisis situations for you. No one can do it all alone.
If your spouse or partner is reluctant or also has a demanding career, it may help to keep one household schedule. You may each want to clearly note unavailable times on the schedule to make sure that at least one of you are available at all times for emergencies. When that is not possible, or if you are a single parent, have a backup plan. Although not ideal, a relative, or even a friend, can pick up a child from school and even go to a doctor appointment on your behalf if you make such arrangements with your doctor and the school in advance. You may need to return the favor for them some time, as well, so choose carefully!
You can also have a backup plan for work. If you keep good notes and records and work on cases with your coworkers, you can cover for each other in at least some emergency situations. Find other working parents in your office whom you can trust and have similar knowledge and skills to team up with on important client matters. This will not work in every situation, but the more contingencies that you have, the better off you will be.
Before making any suggestions to your current employer or your coworkers, however, make sure that you have demonstrated that you are a valuable employee. If you are well-liked and contribute to your firm or company’s success, you are far more likely to be given some latitude in your work schedule and assignments. And don’t expect radical changes right away. Several small changes over time will likely be better received by everyone involved.
Balancing work and a family is always extremely difficult. It takes a great deal of planning and organizing, not to mention patience. Just remember – no one expects you to be “perfect” all the time!