Cleaning, cooking, washing, getting children off to preschool or school, attending parent-teacher interviews, helping with homework, getting children to after-school activities, spending time with children… and also trying to give your best at work… sound familiar? This is the every weekday reality for many working parents.

Combining a working life with raising a family involves a balancing act.

So here are a few coaching questions to help you assess where and how you are in this busyness; how you can gain more enjoyable family time and be more effective at work:

• What benefits do you/your children receive by you working? There are pros for being a working parent!

• What can you do to leave any stress from work behind? Or the other way around – what can you do to leave the stress from home behind as you race off to work?

• How much time do you devote to work life, family life, community life and personal life? What would you like this to be? What prevents you from achieving this at the moment?

• How would you spend the time if you could gain an extra 15 minutes a day? How could you gain those 15 minutes?

• What brings you pleasure? Once you have a few ideas in mind, do one of them today and then as often as you can. To give your best both at work and at home it is really important to take care of yourself.

• How does your thinking style empower you in your busy role? In the workplace and at home can you concentrate on what you can control (not on what is out of your control), so that you have a sense of more power and influence?

• How do you acknowledge your strengths that you display at work and at home? Busy working parents show lots of positive qualities like being responsible, organised and punctual. What are your strengths?

So what will you do to make yourself a priority, so that you can give of your best both at home and at work?