As a woman, you may be as ambitious as Kia. But there’s a lesser chance that you have a husband like Kabir waiting for you back home. Usually, it’s only in the movies that we get to see a man playing the wife complete with the manglasutra (necklace only Indian married women wear).
As a career-driven woman, don’t wait for this extreme change. Bring in the change. Find a mid-point by learning how to balance work and your life at home. Dividing responsibilities with your spouse is the first step in the right direction. Learn how to balance work and your life at home.
Sometimes it’s not easy. “Every day you have to make a decision whether you gonna be a wife, mother in fact many times a day you’ve to make those decisions and you’ve to co-opt…,”said Indira Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo in her famous ‘women can’t have it all’ interview (video below).
She further says, you’ve to develop a coping mechanism.
Research has shown that division of household responsibilities between working couples is key to a successful marriage. In fact, it’s about finding that right balance.
Here are a few tips:
1. Divide the work
It may sound trivial but it works. Sharing house work is more about achieving a sense of co-ordination and team effort. Making a to-do list that decides who does what may seem mundane, but it’s a more productive way to accomplish your common goals.
2. Communicate
We’re always told clear communication is important if you want to succeed at work. The same is true for your life at home. You have to be able to understand what your partner is saying. Ask questions if required. Make requests with ease. Enjoy what you do. Give it a try. It’ll work for you.
3. Empower
If you don’t put away your sense of authority on how things have to be done, you’ll wind up doing everything yourself. Allow your spouse to take decisions about how to execute tasks. Be open to suggestions and new ideas about how to accomplish them.
4. Take stock
Take stock of how you are progressing. Are you on track or ahead/ behind schedule? If you aren’t, you need to examine why. Do you need more resources because you are struggling to accomplish too many tasks? Reviewing your roles is important to gauge whether the system you devised is working or not. It’s also a good time to swap tasks, to see if that works better for both of you.
With little ingenuity and patience you can bring in that work-life balance. All you have to do is bring in a slice of your work personality home and develop that coping mechanism!
