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A modern working mother’s guide to balancing work & life
If I get a penny every time I was asked about how I balance work and life, I could probably retire and live off all that money already.
It’s true. Balancing work and life is something that many people like to know how to do well and many people try to do well. When I am asked the question, I usually reply with a practical advice, such as learning how to prioritise using a prioritisation framework or the well-known method to getting things done aka the 3 D’s, Do, Delegate and Drop.
However, the truth is that, I don’t even know if there is an official definition of work-life balance or is it something that I want to follow rigidly. I am often still doing work past 9pm when my daughter is asleep or checking my social media, slack messages or replying to work emails on weekends. Just last weekend, my daughter was invited to a birthday party at a play centre and I spent half of my time there sitting at a quiet spot and putting together a plan for an upcoming project while my daughter runs around happily with her peers. The other half of my time there was spent mingling and chatting with other parents. One of the other parents asked me why I was working on a Sunday and that work should be left strictly for weekdays only. To which chuckled and said I would like to have more time to do other stuff during the week like cooking and…
