When I began my career, it was easy for me to work early mornings, late nights and every weekend. I was on a lease up, so of course it was time consuming, but I didnt even give it a second thought. I loved my career and I was all over anything I could do to help move that forward. In addition to working all those crazy hours, I was also active with the local apartment association, a couple of volunteer organizations and still managed to fit in some quality time with my then fiance (now husband). I was loving life and wouldn't have changed a thing.
Fast forward a few years to the birth of my first son. Wow, it's amazing how such a little person could change every aspect of your life. Everything that I thought was important suddenly wasn't. And all of my goals and aspirations were thrown out the window. All I wanted to do was spend time with my little guy. Give him everything the world had to offer. But I quickly realized that all of those wonderful things came with a pricetag and I couldn't give them to him if I didn't resume my career. So I jumped back on the saddle and settled into a new routine. We woke up at 6 a.m., got fed, dressed and packed and made the 30 minute trek to the babysitter's house. After he was settled, I made the additional 15 minute trek to work and began my day around 8 a.m. I did my best to get through the day, handling resident issues, leasing apartments and squashing a staff squabble or two. When 5 p.m. rolled around, I tried to make a swift exit, but was usually bombarded by a few residents looking for their packages on their way home from work. I was lucky to be out of the office by 5:15 p.m., at the sitter's by 5:30 and home by 6:15. By the time I cooked, fed and bathed the baby, I only had about 30 minutes of playtime with him before it was time for him to go to sleep at 8 p.m. I can't even begin to tell you how disheartening it was to only spend 30 minutes a day with my child. Any mother will agree that that's simply not enough time. And it just about killed me that another woman was spending 9 hours a day with him. 9 whole hours. I went through the motions, day in and day out, but my life was incomplete and I just wasn't happy. But at the time, I saw no way out. We needed the paycheck and the apartment industry was all I'd ever known. I felt I was destined to live like this forever. That is, until I found out I was pregnant with my second child.
As soon as I looked at that positive pregnancy test, I just knew things had to change. There was no way I could divide that small 30 minute window of quality time with two children. And I certainly wasn't going to be able to pay $2,000 just for a babysitter! So over the next several months, I searched high and low for new job opportunities. When I saw that there was virtually nothing out there that could pay me what I was making as a manager, I started to think outside the box. What if I could work for myself? But doing what? It's a scary thought to put yourself out there, not having a steady paycheck to rely on. But after a couple more months of research, preparation and lots of prayers, I finally was able to launch my very own company. I had long been thinking that our area was lacking apartment locating services. So I decided to start there. My company quickly took on a mind of it's own and now I offer marketing services and most recently, online resident newsletters. Business now couldn't be better, but the best part is, I'm sharing it with my family. I have legos under my desk, drink from a Spongebob coffee mug, have Batman on the TV in the background....and I'm loving every minute of it. It took me some time, but I had finally figured out how to balance my life so that I could have the thriving career I wanted but still be there to raise my kids.
So how's your work/life balance? The scales don't even out instantly, it's going to take a little work to get you there. Below are some awesome tips from Web MD to help you on your way...
1. Figure out what really matters to you. Try to come up with a list of your top 5 priorities and rank them in order of importance to see what needs work.
2. Drop unnecessary activities. In addition to my long hours in the office, I was also overextending myself with apartment association activities and volunteer time.
3. Protect your private time. Make sure you don't skimp out on those doctor's appointments, parent teacher conferences, lunch dates with friends and family, etc. Those events are critical to making sure you take care of your number one priority-you!
4. Accept help to balance your life. Allow people to help you when they offer to give your kids a ride or run some errands for you. Every little bit helps!
5. Plan fun and relaxation. Whatever it is that you enjoy doing, whether it be a relaxing yoga class or a hike though the trails, be sure to make time for these things in your life.
I really hope you can find balance in your life like I have in mine. I've never been happier in my home life or more successful in my career. It can happen for you too...but you have to put in the work to get yourself there!
Morgan Oney, CAM
http://www.mynewsletterconnection.com/
http://www.getmoreleases.com/
http://www.triangleapartmentconnection.com/
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