Permission to Schedule Family First - Granted
By Tana M. Mann Easton, Lead Efficiency Engineer
When my son was born, I worked a corporate job. When my maternity leave was over, he was in daycare during the workday. I would get him dressed early in the morning and take my still sleeping baby to daycare. He was so excited and stimulated at daycare that he wouldn’t take a nap, so as soon as I got him in the car at the end of my workday, he would fall asleep and sleep the rest of the night. So, there were weeks where I didn’t see my son’s open eyes at all until the weekend. I was so bothered during this time because my gut was screaming, “Did you really become a mom so you can interact with your baby only on the weekends?” For me, the answer was a clear no.
So many of us allow our work schedule to be the first grabber of our time, and then we fit our family around the time that work doesn’t occupy. But this doesn’t have to be the order of priority. Ed Mylett, for example, realized that he wanted to start scheduling his family events first and then fill work in around his family. Greg McKeown is another prosperous human who schedules his family time first. Our families don’t have to get the dregs of our time and energy. It’s possible to prioritize them and still be successful.
For me, I ended up leaving my corporate job and began working for myself. It was scary to leave a regular paycheck, but the time freedom I have now allows me to take my son to school and pick him up. I can help out at school, and we can go on vacations when we want. I schedule work around my time with my family, and I no longer feel like I’m giving my time and energy to the wrong places.
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Sincerely Yours,
Focus to Evolve Team