Make Time for Family

There is nothing as important as family, yet it is the one thing in life that most people take for granted. We get so caught up in work—whether we're ambitiously trying to get to the top or simply trying to get out from under—that we forget to make time for family.

Unfortunately, it's not easy to keep family as the highest priority. There are times when, in order to help the family survive, we have to take time away from them and concentrate on work. Sometimes we have no choice but to sacrifice the time we would like to be spending with them. But there are other times when work issues must be sacrificed. Perhaps that promotion should wait until next year. Maybe some of the work you feel can only be done by you can be delegated to others. There is no perfect answer that will work for everyone. It's a matter of balance, and of making the most of the time you do have to spend with your family.

Everyone wants to provide for his or her family. But you can give your family (and especially your children) more by teaching them how to live a life than by giving them money for a life.

If you must sacrifice time with your family for work, at least let them know what's happening. Explain the work you do. Talk about your work with your spouse and your kids. When you bring work home, tell them about what you're doing and why it's important to your job. There may be ways to get your family involved with your work, even if it's just to help you stamp envelopes or do research on the Internet.

Here are two practical tips: Be sure that "family" is one of the headings on your goal board and that it's somewhere they can see it. It helps remind you that you need to set aside time to be with them, and it helps them by letting them see that they're just as important as the work-related goals you're striving to accomplish.

Second, set up projects to do with your children. Instead of taking them to the movies or sitting and watching TV, do something creative. Take them to the woods and go on hikes. Help them write a book or build a birdhouse. Or simply sit and talk; find out who they really are. Do something that requires interaction without other distractions. One quality half-hour on a project can be more valuable than two hours in front of a movie screen.

The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.

—Thomas Jefferson,
U.S. president