SubscribeWork-Life Balance for Working Moms
Stories documenting the quest of working moms for that ever-elusive work-life balance are everywhere. Here’s one that caught my ear this morning as I …
- dropped my son off at pre-school (after getting older siblings off to school on the bus)
- dropped my husband off at work
- stopped by the tire shop so that they could locate the wheel lock that they neglected to put back in my car after replacing my tires several months back
- returned home and tidied the house before a home service call between 10am – 12 noon (at least it was only a two-hour window!)
- eventually made my way into my workspace around 11am, where I listened to the full story as I got my work day going!
It’s because of days like today, though much simpler and less scheduled than a typical day for me, that flexibility in my work life is key and it’s why I chose to be an Enterprising Mom.
The story, on NPR’s Morning Edition, is the first in a three-part series entitled ‘More Employers Make Room For Work-Life Balance.’ The piece explores how one Northern Virginia company with 100 employees has incorporated flexible work options into it’s business structure and what makes it work. It also discusses how the 9-to-5 schedule isn’t conducive to today’s work environment or family systems. Of course, we’ve know that for quite some time!
Quite intriguing is how younger generations and those without young children are pushing for flex time as well. They want quality of life now and technology makes flexible work even more feasible today, especially for those who’ve been immersed in technology from the early years (and can’t figure out how to work without it!). Also intriguing, it’s anticipated that the push will increase from baby boomers, who will need to work longer, well into retirement years, and will want to both work less and have more flexibility when they do.
Of course, it doesn’t work for all jobs and industries, but the search continues for creative ways to improve the prospect of work-life balance, which I say, is more about work-life integration, but that’s another post.
Tomorrow on the NPR series … flexing in a government bureaucracy.
What say you?
- Everyone’s promoting … are you seeing it?
- How flexible is your work?
- What does flexibility mean to you (working at home, flexible schedule, comp time)?