The balance between home and work is a delicate one. The times when a person is needed at home, is often when they are needed at work. Below you will find one way of looking at the delicate balancing act between two major areas of life.

It is important to stop and think about the two facets of life that clash the most, work and home. Home may include spouse/partner, children, pets, hobbies, social life or possibly just being at home, alone. Which facet is most important to you? There are no right answers. Which area is placing the most demands upon you at this time? Carefully analyze where you want to invest your time and energy. Remember, when more time is spent on one area, the other may suffer. Think ahead to potential problems that this may cause. By spending an increased amount of time at work, a partner/spouse/child/pet may become angry and vice versa. Be prepared for this.

Divide a sheet of paper and label the divisions work life and personal life. Carefully think about each area. Next to each area, write down the pros and cons. Is work satisfying for you, or is it a necessity (i.e. sole breadwinner)? Is your personal/social life more important than your career? And so forth. Be honest now!

Next, mark down which area is most important to you. Also mark down your goals for each area. As time passes, you can review this and see if adjustments in your plan have to be made. If home life begins to spin out of control, you may want to decrease your energy placed into work, or vice versa.

By spending more time at work, will you achieve the goal that you desire? If not, carefully weigh the expenditure (time and energy) to the outcome (promotion or just more work). You will have to decide if it is worth it to you. No one else can make this determination.

So, once you have thought about which area is most important, which goals you want to attain, it is time to prioritize.

Prioritizing

Now, you've thought about your situation and defined the different facets of your life. You've taken a step back and thought about each area and your goals and dreams for each one. You have also decided which area needs more attention and which area will suffer if not tended to. Next, you will decide where you want to focus your energies and time. A single parent may have no choice, but to focus energy on work. So be it. A dual income family may decide that one person can decrease hours to part time. This may mean that dining out every night will end. There will be have to be payoffs to make this work.

Putting Your Plan into Action

This will definitely be the most challenging piece. If you're working more hours at the office, someone will have to pick the kids up from school, let the dog out or feed the cat. Who can help you with this? Marshall all of your resources. You may have to expand your support network. Think outside of the nuclear family. Include in your thinking aunts, uncles, neighbors or friends. Always temper this with safety in mind. If you're having a friend pick your children up from school, are they trustworthy, reliable and safe? Are there school programs after hours or maybe local agencies have programs (YMCA, Girls & Boys Clubs, etc.)? Begin your search.

You will have to sit down with your spouse/partner/children and discuss your goals and plans. How can they assist? Do they agree? Will they be supportive? If not, what is your backup plan? You may have to adjust your plans at this point due to lack of support or disagreement. Remember that you will be making changes to this plan as your home/work/social environment change. Do not look at these changes as defeat, but rather as refinements in your plan.

How can your work place assist with this? Is a flexible schedule offered? Is daycare at work offered? Sit down with your boss/employees and see what your place of employment has to offer you in this venture. If you are honest with your employer, you will feel less stress in that area of your life and you may actually find some assistance.

Tips

Create your own support network. Build a list and talk with persons on the list that may be able to help out at a minute's notice. This can range from picking kids up at school to running errands when no one else is available.

Wherever you are, be there. If you're at work, focus on the work at hand. If you're at home, be at home 100%. Separate, in your mind and physically, work and home life. Protect each of them and keep them in their own spaces.

Live as close to your work as possible. Geographically reduce distances. If you spend an hour each day driving to and from work, by the end of the year, you will have spend 260 hours or more on the road. Time that could be spent elsewhere.

Make a plan and stick with it. Don't doubt yourself or second-guess your decisions. This is not healthy for you, and again, you will only waste valuable time ruminating when you could be enjoying!

Don't expect special considerations at work. Your priorities may not be your employer's priorities. However, be honest and forthright with your superior. Plan ahead as much as possible and prepare for problems.

Build in routines. Prepare for the next day, the night before. This may mean laying out children's clothes, preparing lunches or briefly looking at your work schedule so there are as few as surprises as possible. Look ahead on your calendar so that you won't be taken by surprise when your son asks for his favorite soccer socks, which happen to be dirty from the last soccer game. Remember, routine in children's lives = predictability = safety.

Include everyone. This could be a spouse, life partner or family. Include them in the planning and decision making. Also include them in the day to day work. You don't have to do it all. Ask for assistance with everyday tasks. An older child can load up the dishwasher, take the dog for a walk or pick up the living room. Spread out the duties!

Prioritize. The house may need to be cleaned, laundry is piling up, the grass needs to be cut and the car is in dire need of maintenance. Do the most pressing item first, such as car maintenance. Without a car, your routine will be dramatically disrupted, as will your life. The house cleaning can wait another day, the grass will continue to grow and your laundry will pile even higher. You will get to it all, eventually.

Make time for yourself. This is easier said, than done. However, if you're not performing at your best, your work, home life and relationships suffer. Studies are now appearing that link illness to accumulated stress. De-stress yourself. If this means a walk each day, reading a few chapters of a book, do it! Take care of yourself so that you can take care of others.