How parents can juggle return to school and return to work

Busy businesswoman with little daughter in office. The executive mom spends time with her child and takes her at work

As children make the long-awaited return to school and with one-month-down already in 2019, working parents across the nation are preparing to return to routine and start ramping up their business activities.

As the looming task of preparing school lunches & organising after-school activities returns, the level of overwhelm can build up and forge a spiraling sense of apprehension for parents juggling career and family commitments. Organisation is key to smoothly sailing through this time of year and it’s pivotal to formulate a plan to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.

I have seen first-hand the positive impact that proactive planning can have on business owners. Not only is it financially valuable to prepare for the new-year, it is extremely beneficial mentally as well. It’s important to get organised as soon as possible to revitalise your focus and energy which will have a positive impact all-round.

If you’re struggling to find the motivation and enthusiasm to return to work, here are my top five tips to help you get back on the horse:

1. Assess your goals

With five months left of the financial year, you’ve still got time to reach your targets. If you’re not on track, what is the gap between where you’re at now and where you need to be?

2. Plan, plan, plan!

Assess what’s working and more importantly, what’s not. If your business is lacking momentum, what proactive activities can you do to improve your business model? Writing a solid business plan is a great way to transform the structure and efficiency of a business.

3. Manage your time

You can’t change how many hours there are in a day, but you can utilise those hours and optimise how productive they are. By mapping out what you should be doing every day, you will have better control of your time and can leverage your efforts to use your time more efficiently.

4. Connect with your team

Opening a dialogue for honest communication with your team, where you can discuss your goals and expectations, will elevate the performance standards and create a happier work environment. A great way to start the year is with a team meeting and re-connecting with each person one-on-one is a powerful way to ignite your team.

5. Follow through

Continual assessment of where you’re at is the most important part in moving closer to your goals, and those who follow through are always the ones who succeed.

We all need to take a close look at our priorities and re-order what’s important to us. I get it, I really do. There’s so much pressure, especially for working parents, to find the right balance. Getting an objective opinion from a business coach, friend or mentor – and having those people help to keep you on track– can make a huge difference to your success.

Suzzanne Laidlaw, business reformer and entrepreneurs’ mentor