Expert Work and Life Management Consultant Cali Williams Yost provides strategies to help working parents and employers prepare for this stressful time of year
MADISON, N.J., Aug. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ — It's here – the dreaded back-to-school crunch!! But that's not all. As parents struggle to prep for a new school year, work projects on hold for the summer suddenly go into overdrive as the "fourth quarter" and "year-end" are just around the corner.
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(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130819/PH65344-b )
"It's a double whammy recipe for disaster unless moms and dads, and employers, make a proactive plan to beat the crunch," says Cali Williams Yost, a leading workplace thinker, consultant and author of the recently published Tweak It: Make What Matters to You Happen Every Day, (Center Street/Hachette). "The good news for families and employers is that there are simple strategies to more proactively manage what is traditionally a hectic and stressful transition."
The first step for working parents, according to Yost, is to identify and breakdown the back-to-school activities typically encountered every year and schedule increments of time to tackle them. Tips include:
- Review the "summer pre-work" your child may have. Count back from the first day of school and set a reasonable schedule for completion with your child to avoid a night-before scramble.
- Book an hour of your time to add in all 2013-2014 school dates into your calendar, including extra-curricular sport and activities. Keeping one calendar for all personal and work obligations adds in a layer of efficiency.
- Buy school supplies early, before the line is out the door and the shelves are picked clean. Waiting too long might mean trips to multiple stores as supplies run low.
- Take advantage of back-to-school sales to buy a couple of basic needs but know you don't need a full fall and winter wardrobe right away. Count on shorts and t-shirts to get through the first few weeks.
As if preparing for a new school year isn't enough, working parents are faced with an additional crunch at work. As employees settle back in after summer vacations, the focus quickly shifts to fourth quarter and year-end.
"Communication between key players is critical to be prepared for what is typically a busy and transitional time for business," says Yost. "Most often the burden falls to employees to lead the charge in this situation, but employers and managers can help the process tremendously by being proactive and engaged with employees who have school-age children."
Yost suggests the following as a starting point:
- Sit down with your boss in advance to clearly identify projects and priorities for September and October.
- Ask if there is anything you and the team could do to prepare and get a jump start now.
- Share dates you may need to take off or have additional flexibility around back-to-school, such as orientation/registration sessions and the first day(s) of drop off and pick up.
- Leave the evenings and weekends the week before and two weeks after the start of school as free and uncommitted as possible. If you have to schedule out of town travel or evening work activities, make sure you coordinate with your partner or friends for child care coverage well in advance.
Cali Williams Yost is the CEO and Founder of The Flex+Strategy Group/Work+Life Fit, Inc., a strategic advisory that helps people and business partner for flexible work success.
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Pam Kassner
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