Tom Hanson, Contributing Writer
In today's world, the balance between career responsibilities and the needs of a family has never been more challenging. Though technology has greatly enhanced our productivity, personal computers and the internet also mean that work can now easily spill over into our home lives.
Today's career counselors tend to focus on two critical components when balancing work and family. First and foremost, working adults must determine their respective priorities. However, at the same time, working adults must recognize that balancing work and family will require certain sacrifices.
The very first step in the process is to clearly identify your personal and professional goals as well as those of your spouse or significant other. The key decision for every working adult is how to manage career aspirations against the needs of being a husband or wife and a mom or dad.
Fundamental to that decision is a definition of success. For some, climbing the corporate ladder is critical; for others, having large amounts of time to spend with family is paramount to feeling successful. Ultimately, though everyone wants to feel a sense of accomplishment, what creates that sense of satisfaction varies from person-to-person.
Therefore, you and your spouse must come to agreement as to what is right for each of you in relationship to family responsibilities. A failure to balance individual priorities against the needs of the family will only undermine any sincere sense of satisfaction one might feel.
If your primary goal is to succeed in the world of business then you will most certainly need to work long hours. You may also need to be ready to travel at the drop of a hat.
If a career is the number one priority, then having a family must take a back seat to that objective. Clearly, one cannot devote unlimited hours to work or be ready to travel at a moment's notice without impacting time spent with their spouse or children.
While it can be chic to think that starting an office at home will help, a true business-oriented focus demands that a worker be willing to miss some family time along the way. A home office might reduce some travel time, but it can also intrude into your home life during off-hours as well.
On the flip side, a desire to create a family means at least one adult must make a potential sacrifice regarding work. While that promotion may bring more pay or a job of greater prestige, if it carries with it a work commitment that is contrary to your family goals then you will need to evaluate accordingly. In such a case, you may want to forgo a raise or promotion despite what such an opportunity can do for your career.
Today, more and more people are realizing that the key for them is to be able to have control of their time and their workload. The title of vice-president sounds impressive and still carries a sense of stature in many circles, but for most of today's workers the chance to have free time for friends and family has become more important than holding such a title.
All experts agree that you must listen to your own heart. The world is full of people who have spent years climbing the corporate ladder only to reach the pinnacle of their career still feeling a sense of emptiness.
But at the same time, students will find that the school lab often has public hours where community members can come in to utilize the computers. Often times, one of the adult education teachers is assigned to the lab as a resource when the public comes in to use the facility.
Begin by determining where it is you want to spend your time and then make that your priority. Remember, some sacrifices will still need to be made but the decision as to what must be sacrificed becomes very apparent when your priorities have clearly been established.