5 lessons any professional can learn from parents to master work-life integration

Nestled on the sofa, you’re just about to crack open your favorite book. Ding! You steal a glance at your phone. Ah, another work email has just come through. Well, it’s past 5 PM — you can always look at it tomorrow, right? What if it’s important, though? You bite your lip as you reach for the phone. Surely, one look won’t hurt.

We’ve all been there. In fact, statistics show that nine in ten women experience mental health struggles as a result of poor work-life balance. The challenges pile up even higher when you add parenting into the mix: 55% of working mothers with children under the age of 18 say that work makes it harder for them to be a good parent. Interestingly enough, parenting can actually teach us some vital lessons about work-life integration. 

Think of it this way: it is often precisely when we must juggle many responsibilities that we are required to put effective systems and boundaries in place, thereby protecting our mental health and establishing a better work-life balance. In short, there is much to learn from working parents when it comes to sorting work and personal life into two separate drawers. And the following 5 lessons are excellent examples of that.

— Tamara Maria Christ, Managing Director at ASFINAG Service

1. play doesn’t take away from productivity — it boosts it

It’s a common misconception that taking a break from work equals stepping away from productivity and potentially even sliding into laziness. Far too many professionals overwork and deprioritize their relationships and mental wellbeing out of fear, guilt, or shame, thinking that letting work drop to the bottom of their priority list for even a moment will negatively impact their careers.

So why is it that play and relaxation are proven to boost productivity and work performance, from micro-breaks during work hours to restful periods at home?

The answer is simple: humans cannot function at 100% all of the time. Just like your phone needs charging every evening, you, too, greatly benefit from devoting your time to reading your favourite book, going out for a walk, or nurturing your connection with family and friends.

“Being a parent has made me aware of the importance of play in my life. When I approach work with a play mindset I stay curious and open to new opportunities,” shares Rita Cidre, Head of Academy at Semrush, highlighting that play doesn’t only improve our work-life integration but also has a positive impact on our mindset whilst in work mode.

2. your quality time equals a business meeting

Quality time with your loved ones is shown to be the most important factor when it comes to human happiness, yet a career-focused mindset that deemphasizes family and friendships is quite commonplace in the workforce. In order to meet their children’s needs, many parents have had to shift their priorities and act accordingly, thereby establishing a better work-life balance and boosting their mental well-being.

Here’s a simple strategy to do precisely that, based on what we’ve learned from Simone Gerner, COO at ARTUS: treat the time you spend with your family, friends, or doing something you love as sacred. Assign it the same importance you would to a business meeting. Use time-blocking to reserve specific chunks of time for activities that recharge you and boost your mental well-being.

Your personal life matters. However, it’s up to you — and the concrete actions you take — to prove to yourself that it does.

3. delegate practical tasks to professionals

They say that it takes a village to make childcare work. Well, it’s time for us to see what parents can teach us about building our own village by delegating tasks to other professionals.

A good example is that of Anja Hintermeier, Department Head for New Business (part-time) at Wien Energie, Austria’s largest energy provider, who relies on a platform called heycare, which offers childcare, elder care, and mental health services as an employee benefit. “My husband and I both work in leadership positions – he works full time, and I work 34 hours a week. We share the care of our child equally, and one set of grandparents who live in Austria supports us,” she says. 

“Normally everything works out well, but there are always situations where we need short-term help – for example, if one of us is sick or the grandparents are on vacation. That’s when we started looking for an additional, trustworthy caregiver.”

The decision to delegate childcare to professionals is applicable to other areas of life, too, from hiring cleaning services twice a month to ease your mental and physical load to investing in life coaching or a mentorship program that can help you create organized systems and alleviate stress. 

There is no need to carry it all on your shoulders. Delegation (and getting a support system) is an effective strategy that anyone — not just working parents – can benefit from.

4. leverage your emotional support networks

While practical tasks can be delegated, emotional struggles are eased when shared — which is precisely why it’s important to rely on support networks when navigating work-life boundaries. 

Simone Scheffer, Managing Director for the dealerships Porsche Zell am See and Porsche Saalfelden, drives this point home when she reflects on her parenting journey:

No matter what it is you’re dealing with, there is always someone who will relate, from parenting groups on Facebook to mental health support groups on Meetup or the people in your community garden who have overworked themselves in the past and gained a new perspective on life since then.

Oftentimes, the simple act of sharing is enough to shake off some stress, decrease feelings of loneliness, and potentially get some valuable advice.

5. setting up systems that work

“As a mom, I've learned a lot about handling work and parenting together. It can be nerve-wracking, but it's helped me improve myself in ways I never thought possible,” says Aneta Londa, Founder & Chief Buzz Creator at Moonshot Pirates. 

How, though? What practical strategies can you use to make your work and personal lives coexist in harmony? 

Enter… systems that streamline your management process.

Here are three examples:

• Eisenhower Matrix: a delegation tool that helps sort priorities into four boxes depending on their importance and urgency

• Self-care to-do lists: a weekly or monthly to-do list that logs self-care activities as essential responsibilities, helping you prioritize yourself with intention (for instance, “read one book I like per month” or “go for a massage once in two weeks”)

• Special days: just like that weekly Monday meeting, assign specific days of the week a concrete activity (such as Thursday date nights or Tuesday family movie evenings)

blending work and life through parenting lessons

Nurturing one’s personal life is a tough job sometimes, and so is building one’s career. The instant these two go toe-to-toe, a battle ensues, with your mental health as the main casualty. With the above-mentioned parenting lessons up your sleeve, though, you now have a better idea of how to improve your work-life balance and ensure your career and personal life co-exist peacefully.

In the end, work-life integration is all about three Ss:

1. Shift your mindset

2. Seek support

3. Set up systems