A working woman and relaxation- sounds weird? Most women who are reading this now would have a sarcastic smile with ‘Do we ever get time to relax?’ thoughts going on in their head. True enough! We do not. Whether you are a single working woman or a mother or a wife to someone, the responsibilities on you are tremendous and we tend to owe them all.
Though I work from home but I see my many mothers around me who are constantly on the go. They have their hands full at work and at home and still most of them are feeling guilty of not being able to give their best to both. My word to you girls is, ‘Just Stop’. I am not saying stop working or stop spending time with your children and family; I am saying stop feeling guilty and stop trying to be a superwoman. It might not seem easy, but there is some time you can take out to relax. It’s always the relaxation of mind that any human needs more than the physical state. And this comes, when you follow and routine and schedule in your day to day activities. Some of the following can be done to relax and rejuvenate:
Prioritize the tasks
It is very important for you to prioritize what you do in a day, in a week and in a month. If you foresee any plans of a career switch or higher studies in the current year, you need to carefully prioritize your activities right to the day and hour level. Similar planning goes for any personal commitments of a wedding or child birth.
Multi task
Women are great at multitasking. That’s what bosses would usually say whenever they want you to take up additional responsibilities. Surely it will make you feel elated for being considered for all the important tasks, but one of the key things I have learnt in life is to say NO. Say NO wherever you feel you cannot fulfill the commitments. It is better to say no initially than producing poor quality work. So if you are one of those women who manage a child, a second child in form of a husband and work at the same time, you need to chalk your day out and set aside time for each activity. Sometimes saying no to everything is harmful too. Take up challenges once a while and give yourself that push and confidence that you are good enough to take up a complex task.
Stop Trying to be Perfect
Do not try to be the ‘perfect woman’. You will never be perfect at everything even if you try to be. And that is perfectly fine! Seek help whenever you feel burned out. Be it a baby sitter, a household help or say it aloud to your spouse. Do not strive and go out of your way to be the perfect cook, the great lady boss, that perfect party animal who goes out with her friends to keep them happy. If it is burning you out, stop and take a breath and see where your priority lies. It is absolutely okay to take a day off or sleep long hours over the weekend. We all need some time to rest and relax before we hit our momentum again.
Manage Your Time
Time management is something that is inherent in women. Make use of that natural skill to manage your work and set time aside for yourself to revive that long lost hobby of yours.
Seek Help If Needed
Women go through a lot of hormonal changes throughout their lives. You would find many women talking of depression (Well, it’s a good sign if they are talking about it) and other health ailments induced by hormonal changes. Seek help at the right time. See a doctor, consult a psychologist or better even, talk it out to someone you trust and can confide on. Your mental health is far more important than anything else and a stable happy mind can do wonders.
Me Time
Introduce hours of ‘me time’ in your schedule. Be it hitting the gym, jogging, travelling solo, or even eating out alone in a restaurant. Give some time to yourself to unwind and relax. Laugh a lot and enjoy whatever you do. After all we are not machines to just go on doing our duties and forget to live. Music therapy is the best sometimes. If you do not know what to hear, you can check out some power songs for women.
At this point, most of you would be assuming this is great to say, talk and debate on. But you will realize soon enough once you set a schedule that none of these is really impossible given a little discipline and time management introduced in your life. The lives of successful and influential women we know have families and yet successful at work. Sudha Murthy, Chanda Kochhar, Sheryl Sandberg and the list is never ending. I personally draw a lot of motivation and push when I read about the lives of these women. And not just the women who are famous, I have known women in my life, associates and coworkers who wisely choose their careers in freelancing and home businesses, doing great and yet efficiently managing family. So take a step back and understand what you really need. Surely you need to make some tweaks to your lifestyle to strike a balance between work and family, but at the end of the day, if you sleep relaxed, every effort and sacrifice is worth it.
