Dad's Day Out: Working fathers and fatherpreneurs on work-life balance
The good news is that working fathers are increasingly taking up more responsibilities at home. On the other hand, they often struggle to balance the two extreme worlds. They juggle between deadlines at work and helping kids with their assignments. Meetings and taking kids to their lessons. Managing an entire team and spending quality time with children.
The fear of not being able to give their family a quality time and maintain work-life balance can trigger feelings of shame that lead to reduced productivity at work, highlighted research from Cynthia Wang, a clinical professor of management and organisations at the Kellogg School.
On this Father's Day, we asked some working fathers and business leaders how they manage the multiple roles in their life.
If you are a working father, your peers have some tips for you:
Being in the field of air ambulance, time becomes a constraint as we work 24/7 dealing with emergencies, but there is one tip that I always follow and it is planning in advance for the much-needed “we” time, whether morning or evening where I talk to my kids, play with them and sometimes treat them with my cooking. There are two yearly vacations which we never miss. I make it a point and suggest that the most important thing should be giving them an environment to have free communication, it’s your patience and support that bridges the gap between your being a father to a friend.
Work-lifeife balance is not easy when one is an entrepreneur. As an entrepreneur, your business is also another child and one that takes most of the parent’s time. However, I have always believed that quality of time is important.
While one may not be able to switch off completely, one should definitely switch priorities between work & home. The way I manage is to prioritise my business child during working hours and post working hours prioritise my children.
Making your children responsible is very important, we all want to give our kids the best thing possible but it is also important that they understand the reality of life and stay grounded, I allot few responsibilities to my kid and yes I also don’t believe in bribing them to make them do something. I always teach my daughter that to be different from others you just have to make one extra effort differently from others. I believe it’s important that your kids are responsible, grounded and yes do make them a part of the dream that you have dreamt for them.
The best tip I’ve found to have a good work-life balance is to figure out what you love doing and do that for your living. What looks like work for others should be fun for you. The moment you achieve that you’ll stop worrying about work-life balance and you’ll start thinking more about being the best in what you do. This is not to say that you forget about everything else - like your family, friends, entertainment etc., You’ll be in a much better mental state when you are having fun while you work, you’ll be less stressed and you’ll find time for all your other activities.
Love yourself and set aside a little time for self-care. Make that a habit and work-life balance will gradually seep in.
It is important to invest in your physical and mental health. Introduce 'Breathing and Agility' based interventions like Pranayama, Brisk Walking, Swimming, Cycling, Trekking and Hiking for atleast 5-7 hours in a week. This helps in improving the lungs and heart health, improves the metabolism, helps body in secreting happy hormones (endorphins). Needless to say, reduces stress significantly.
It might also help to pen down 'life goals' and make an effort to fulfill them rather than just be playing the role of provider in the family. This will set a good example for children.
