
Prioritizing life - The challenges of a working woman
- By Team TDO
A woman is always divided between work and family. Unlike men who can pursue their goals and work long hours to get a promotion or bonus, women have to compromise many times over a lower position so that she can get to work with less responsibilities and more flexibility and spend more time with her children. It is simply unimaginable; the dizzying array of work, all the working mothers has to perform, and that too on daily basis.
Here are few of the challenges faced by today’s working mother and wife:
The first thing that bothers a working woman is selecting the right babysitter or home caregiver for the kids. If the children are to be left at the crèche, she has to take care of the transportation and also ensure that all the supplies for day time need such as diapers, clothes, food, drinks are packed properly. For older children, the mother has to pack lunches, or give money for lunch and also check whether all the forms and books related to school and everyday activity of children are in place or not.
Another tedious task for the working mothers is to get ready and dressed during the morning madness, and to top it they not only have to dress themselves but also dress up the children in time and get them out of the door. If unfortunately the child is sick, working mothers have to intimate their office for leave or half day and schedule an appointment with the doctor or arrange for emergency care as per the need. Phew talk about hard work!
On top of this, there are employers who do not allow paid time off for caring of the children. In such cases, the working woman has to lose the pay for that day or days as long as the child recovers completely.
The first job of a working woman starts when she wakes up in the morning and prepares breakfast for the kids and her husband. By the time she leaves home having done packing for the kids, preparing lunch and all the other daily chores, it is time for her second shift at work. After leaving the office, her third shift starts when she has to cook dinner, do the laundry, bath the children, get their homework completed, wash the dishes and put the kids to bed.
Phew! The list is long and exhaustive. Even then, the working woman wakes up early in the morning and the whole routine starts again uninterrupted. Apart from all this, she also has to do the cleaning, plan for the week’s menu and pick up grocery, fill up the car with gas and pick up dry cleaning on her way back to home. So, what are left are only weekends when she can spend some quality time with her friends and family.
Devoting time to self care
To work continuously all through the week, one needs a lot of energy and motivation. Moreover, you can be motivated and energetic all the day through only if you take good care of yourself. For this, you need to watch your diet, take meals at regular timings and exercise at least five times a week. If you can manage to spare time and money for a spa including body massage, you should certainly invest in it every now and then. When you look good and feel good, you will be able to carry on this balancing act between works and home more efficiently.
It is important to look good if you are a working woman! Visiting the beauty salon once in every fortnight should be on your priority list.