On reading an article in Irish Times today, I realised that for most women who work outside of the family home, there is an ongoing battle to get the work-life balance right.   The struggle between getting that perfect balance of being there for your children when they really need you and the demands of a career would appear to be an ongoing challenge.

Time management is key to running both your work and home life but can be a difficult talent to perform well.  There never seems to be enough hours in the day to get everything done.   This is where keeping track of your time both in work and at home is important.

With the advances in technology it is very easy bring your work back home and spend your family time working.   You won’t bring your ironing into your work place so do not bring your work life into your home life.  When you leave the office, leave it and leave all those job related responsibilities at work.

You can adapt certain methods used in your work life to dealing with areas of your home life.  Organise your household tasks as efficiently as you do your work load.  Set up a rota for various chores such as laundry or shopping.  Delegate some of the household chores so that you can spend more time with your family.  There are many chores that can be delegated such as cleaning and ironing.

You can also reduce time spent on bill paying and managing your household finances without handing the task over to someone else.  BillsManager.com is an online budgeting service that will cut the time you spend on managing your household budget while helping you to save money on your bills.   Register your account and BillsManager will guide you through the set up of your budget.  Monthly updates will only take 15 minutes  and keeps  you on track of your bills and your money, giving you more time to spend with your family.