Friday, May 18, 2012

4 Ways to Balance Business Networking with Family Time ...

Got kids? Me, too. Need to attend business networking events while being sensitive to family time? Ditto.

Juggling family time and squeezing out an opportunity to attend business networking events can be tricky. Here are 4 ways to help with your balancing act:family time

  • Pick 3 ?must attend? business networking events per quarter. When you have little ones at home, your time is no longer your own. You won?t be able to attend every event you want.? Find an average of one networking event per month that you would classify as ?must attend.?? This means that by attending this networking event, you feel will learn something new or meet at least a handful of useful new contacts. Read more: How to Decide Which Networking Event Works Best for You.
  • Coordinate with your spouse. Having a supportive spouse is critical to managing work and family. This means if your spouse works, you should be sensitive to his/her requests as well. Coordinate who will pick up the kids after day care or after school activities are over while you attend the business networking event. Read more: Organization Tips for Parents.
  • Rely on your extended network of school friends. Schedule a weekday play date or homework time at your child?s friend?s home. You might find that your extended network is happy to help you periodically when you have to attend a business networking event, even more so if you return the favor. Read more: Setting Up Play Dates.
  • Don?t feel guilty about events you can?t attend. There will always be another seminar, another conference or another meet-up.? However, you can never get back time you lose if you missed your child growing up. Go to the soccer games, birthday parties and everything else you can attend. You will feel far more guilty later on if you lost that precious family time with your child. Read more: Letting Go of Guilt.

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Posted in Creative Ideas and tagged balance, balancing act, business networking, business networking event, business networking events, day care, family, family time, human interest, networking events, school activities

jr martinez