School’s out

School’s out and your children are demanding your time and attention. There goes the lunchtime run, there goes the much needed ‘me time’ after another job interview. I remember juggling Summer sports camps and work when my boys were little and often had to remind myself to put their needs first rather than to see the Summer disruption as something of a nuisance.

If you’re juggling hybrid working or job searching along with children’s Summer holidays and it’s adding to your stress, try to take a step back and view it as an opportunity. Reframing our thinking can take the stress out of any situation and allow us to switch a negative to a big fat positive.

For our kids, school’s out usually means getting away from the school timetable, freedom and relaxation. Remember those wonderful days? Embrace your inner child and see it from their point of view. Be with them in the moment and give them as much time as you can. They’re young for such a short time, believe me!

If you have a tendency to just do that extra job to save time tomorrow, just working through your lunch break to get on top of things, not taking coffee breaks because there’s always stuff to do…stop yourself because school’s out!

Control your working day for this few short weeks and give yourself permission to spend those coffee breaks and lunchtimes being with your kids, even if it’s just lolling on the sofa while they play some video game, pushing them on the swings at the local park or crawling around the garden being a caterpillar. They will thank you and remember that snapshot moment in time far more than the business will remember the stuff. Furthermore, so will you. You’ll have a smile on your face all afternoon and will be more productive because you’ve had some fun and because you want to close the laptop at 5.30 on the dot.