How to Balance Work and Marriage
If both partners in a family work, it is more challenging to maintain a balance of personal and work life. Many difficulties must be solved here, and you must adjust your life so that both of you are comfortable. In this case, you can use different effective techniques - rearrange your schedule, build boundaries, distribute roles, plan the family budget, or even find jobs for a married couple on Jooble. In our article, we've compiled useful tips that will allow you to achieve the best balance between career and family relationships.
No. 1: Discuss your goals with your partner and set realistic expectations
It would help if you started by talking to your partner about your and their goals for the marriage. It will help determine how much time each will devote to work and how much will be left for family.
It's also worth setting realistic expectations — don't assume that your relationship will work as it should while each spouse is working full-time, doing household chores, and raising children. That's physically not enough time. Marriage requires compromises, including work schedules. Most likely, schedules will have to be rearranged by both, or one of their partners will have to switch to a part-time job. That said, you can't do this in a way that only one spouse has to make sacrifices.
No. 2: Set boundaries and stick to them
You can't let work completely consume your life and time. It's worth setting clear boundaries:
- determine how many hours a day you devote to work;
- set a specific schedule;
- avoid unnecessary meetings and other tasks that can be sacrificed for time with your spouse.
Never bring work home. Talking to your partner only about work is not a good idea. Also, remember to check work emails and texts with colleagues at home.
No. 3: Make time to be alone together
Often, we feel overwhelmed when we try to combine work and family life because there is not always enough time for that. One of the most important rules for balancing work and family life is to make time to spend with your partner. This could be taking walks together, going to various events, going on dates, and so on. It will reduce your overall stress levels and keep the relationship intact.
No. 4: Divide up household chores
Only some people will be thrilled to find a huge pile of unwashed laundry, dirty dishes and a mess waiting for them when they return home. Often spouses conflict because they have not distributed between them household tasks. Even from the beginning it is necessary to decide who will wash dishes, vacuum, walk the dog, cook food and so on. At the same time, the roles should be distributed evenly (or in proportion to the workload of the schedule). You can't put everything on just one person.
No. 5: Plan a financial budget
Special attention needs to be paid to money. If things are going well, it's worth discussing whether one partner will help the other if they lose their job or decide to change jobs. Exactly how much does the partner bring to your common budget? Do you have one financial budget, or does everyone have a different one?
No. 6: Try to have less conflict
Fighting with your partner can lead to severe emotional exhaustion. If a dispute arises (particularly if the conflict concerns work), you should avoid getting too emotional about it. Try to discuss these disagreements calmly, keeping rational thinking.
Conclusion
A healthy and happy marriage always involves compromises. You need to be able to sacrifice some of your goals for more important things. It won't be easy, but it has to be done. A successful relationship is one where both partners can combine family life and continue to build a career. Our above tips will help with that.
Sources:
marriage.com - https://www.marriage.com/advice/marriage-fitness/balance-a-career-with-marriage/
davidonu.com - https://davidonu.com/work-life-balance/