How to Spend Time with Your Family in Spite of a Busy Schedule
Your family craves your attention and care; but so does your work.
Couple this with the fact that as a parent, you have the responsibility of providing your children with not just financial support but also moral support. Working those extra hours, or an extra shift is sadly not an acceptable excuse for skipping one-too-many dinners with your family or skipping the annual family beach trip. You already know this. But, it’s not that easy, is it?
Regardless of your tight schedule, you can still make out time for your family. Let me show you how:
Plan ahead
It goes without saying that time management skills are pretty hard to incorporate into our daily lives. Still, to manage time, you have to plan ahead. Even if it means waking up earlier to allocate time for each task of the day; do so. Planning ahead gives you foresight of what you are meant to do at a particular time. This way you would be sure of fitting family time into your schedule.
What’s Negotiable?
Time is a commodity that is to be spent well. In your bid to spend time with your family, you have to understand the concept of time as a commodity.
Look; the fact is, there are negotiables and non-negotiables in your life, every day. Your goal should be to scrape out the negotiables while leaving the non-negotiable stuff on the table (e.g. spending time with family).
As much as possible, avoid all unnecessary conversations or jobs.
Inculcating this mentality would mean finding yourself doing more productive things within shorter periods of time. This way you would conveniently fit in family time without being short of a single penny.
Prioritize
Set up a to-do list in order of importance. From the start of the day, make sure you do the most important stuff before the less important ones. This way, you can easily overlook the small stuff and spend quality time with your family.
After all, they are more important, yeah?
Get organized
Those little moments of uncertainty as to where your items are- those are the real-time wasters! Get your car keys in place, put your shoes in order- make sure everything is where they ought to be. Don’t waste time searching for your car keys or your hair comb. Those little moments spared could go a long way in cutting out your busy schedule.
You Could Use Some Help…
Really; you don’t have to be the superhero of the house.
Everyone sees through the façade of you trying to be the ‘best’ father/mother and to be honest, you don’t get any medal for doing it all! (because you’re likely to do it badly anyway)
Let the kids help in the chores. Doing this poses a lot of unseen benefits. For instance, doing the dishes alongside the kids not only teaches the children moral values of cleanliness; it gets the jobs done a little bit faster. Isn’t that a superb way of spending time with your family. what else? You could chip in water splashes to make it more fun.
Bring the fun home
What use will it be going to the beach if you could have quality family time right there in your house?
Think of how much stress it takes off your shoulders- when you don’t have to plan anything grand or big! Crack jokes during dinner, watch soccer together, read a book at bedtime- take what you can get. Perhaps you could even put up home bowling alleys in your house. Little things like this would go a long way to improve the family bond.
Make good use of your vacation
Organize summer camps or zoo trips- just anything to spend time with your family. vacations and holidays are sure ways of making memories. Set your mind to avoid work interfere with your family time.
Wrapping Up
When it comes to spending time with your loved ones, one big regret would be allowing the years slip through your fingers without creating lingering memories. Take pictures of them, create albums, play video games. Let it keep ringing in your head, that family comes first!
