Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Living Well with the Carrie Connection

Different strategies work for different families, depending on the individuals and their situations. The following suggestions can be helpful for using resources and strategies to balance work and family.

Get in touch with your values. Think about what you want from life for you and your family. How does work fit into that? Is the work you do important for your sense of self or is it important primarily for the money?

Set priorities. Decide, based on your values, what tasks are important which are less important. This means more than saying your family comes before work. It means deciding what activities come first. Review your priorities every month. Ask yourself whether you are accomplishing your goals.

Learn about work and family. Learn all you can about the way work influences family life and the way family life influences work. Note the things at work that carry over to your family and vice versa.

Take time to shift from work to family. It usually takes 15 to 20 minutes to shift gears from work to family. Use time on the way home to clear your head and concentrate on family. Try to avoid bringing work home. Take a 15-minute break to change clothes and make the shift.

Take care of your physical health. This makes you better able to withstand emotional and physical stress.

Redefine the situation. Decide to see stressful situations in a different way. For instance, tell yourself, "It could be worse," or "This is a normal reaction."

Plan and work efficiently. Use schedules for planning specific times for family, work and other activities. Make the most of the time spent together with your family.

Be realistic. Work-family stress is likely to be greater if there is a wide gap between what you expect of yourself and what you achieve. For most of us there is always more to do than time available. Discover what you can do. You may need to adjust both your job aspirations and expectations for management at home.

Reminder: Chicken and Egg Festival Cooking Contest is June 1. For more information call the Chamber of Commerce office at 887-2101.