Working Parents, Are Your Pandemic-Era Habits Still Serving You?. If you're a working parent, it's time to ask yourself whether the strategies you developed to balance your job and childcare during the pandemic are still serving you. Here are four common mindsets you might want to revisit. - Making do with limited childcare. Has the fact that you've made it this far without regular or reliable daycare or in-person schooling left you with the unrealistic expectation that you should be able to do it all—without much support? Instead of holding yourself to an impossible standard, instead ask: What care arrangement do I really need today in order to do my job effectively?
- Seeing remote work as the only answer. If your organization is asking you to return to the office, don't panic. Think as broadly and creatively as possible about the flex arrangement that will work for you—and ask your manager for what you need.
- Day-by-day thinking. Survival mode can lead to short-term thinking in a crisis. Give yourself permission to actively imagine the long term.
- Framing work in opposition to family. When work and home-life responsibilities overlap—or clash—as they did so often throughout the pandemic, it's natural to talk about them in oppositional terms. Instead, discuss work in a more positive light with your family. A simple shift from "I have to go to work" to "I'm going to work" can help your kids imagine their own futures.
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| Today’s Tip |
| Working Parents, Are Your Pandemic-Era Habits Still Serving You? |
If you're a working parent, it's time to ask yourself whether the strategies you developed to balance your job and childcare during the pandemic are still serving you. Here are four common mindsets you might want to revisit.
- Making do with limited childcare. Has the fact that you've made it this far without regular or reliable daycare or in-person schooling left you with the unrealistic expectation that you should be able to do it all—without much support? Instead of holding yourself to an impossible standard, instead ask: What care arrangement do I really need today in order to do my job effectively?
- Seeing remote work as the only answer. If your organization is asking you to return to the office, don't panic. Think as broadly and creatively as possible about the flex arrangement that will work for you—and ask your manager for what you need.
- Day-by-day thinking. Survival mode can lead to short-term thinking in a crisis. Give yourself permission to actively imagine the long term.
- Framing work in opposition to family. When work and home-life responsibilities overlap—or clash—as they did so often throughout the pandemic, it's natural to talk about them in oppositional terms. Instead, discuss work in a more positive light with your family. A simple shift from "I have to go to work" to "I'm going to work" can help your kids imagine their own futures.
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| This tip is adapted from “Working Parents, It's Time to Let Go of These Pandemic-Era Habits,” by Daisy Dowling |
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