We all despise those women who stay calm and immaculate when everyone around them is falling apart. None of us want to ask how their hair remains in shape after a hard day at work, that would only stroke their ego.
A recent article in The Sunday Times says that the success buzz phrase is ‘Work-life merge,’ and more women are learning to adapt to life and work duties more than ever before.
According to the Chief Editor at The Atlantic Magazine, women are plastic and can adapt easily to change, whereas men are like cardboard.
But balancing domestic and work life can’t always be as easy as it looks. Earlier this year when Corby MP Louise Mensch resigned from her back bench position, she stooped the question; can women really have it all?
Even the beautiful blonde media personality with three kids and a wealthy husband in New York could not maintain her cool demeanour and keep the feminist flag flying high in parliament.
Not only did she shrug off her sisterhood duties, she stopped the rest of us from flattening the cardboard.
Our generation of girls, feel stunted. But the recession could be a powerful catapult to success. We need to refresh our grandma’s survival tools to get the same rewards that they did.
Kate White, Editor of Glamour Magazine says the easy way to a successful balance is “go big or go home”. Her philosophy to success is to go BIG on everything.
Adopting a “go-getter” attitude will allow you to prioritise important real life duties, like picking up the kids from school, without shouting about it.
Follow these ten tips to help you balance on the ladder to success;
1. Lay down the rules.
If you are good at what you do, you are entitled to assert what you want in return. The company car, salary, pension, holiday benefits. Just take small steps at the beginning, intimidating the boss with your needs from the outset is never a good look. Wait for them to find out how serious you are about what you do.
2. Exploit your “Erotic Capital”.
In her book, Erotic Capital, Catherine Hakim assures us that beauty, sex appeal and skills of self-presentation can make up for intelligence and specialist knowledge. Don’t feel guilty if you had to spend the evening fixing your nails instead of reading that report, it’s all part of the job spec.
3. Go the extra mile.
Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty, always keep a spare pair of trainers in the office. It shows you mean hard work.
4. Network like crazy.
Part of the job duty is attending the after work drinks. Getting yourself known in the work place will allow people to gauge your fun sense of humour side too.
5. Don’t get personal.
No-one in the office wants to hear about your relationship politics or that you’re struggling to pay the council tax. This is where we distinguish the work-life balance, never bring personal troubles into the office unless it’s an emergency.
6. Tidy house, tidy mind.
Becoming OCD about ordering your bank statements in a neat paper tray will allow you to focus easily. Keeping milk in the fridge within it’s sell by date is a reflection of the woman you are. Control the trivial things and keep a cool façade.
7. Leave on time.
Be practical about the things you need to achieve on a daily basis. If it’s just you and the care-taker left on a Friday night, you should reconsider what you’re doing. If you can’t be realistic, you will resent what you set out to achieve in the first place.
8. Sleep.
This is pretty basic stuff, but not even Touch Éclat can disguise puffy eyes. Take charge of your sleeping patterns. Never take your work to bed with you. Make sure your work phone is switched off. Winston Churchill might have survived on five hours sleep a night, but do you want to look like him?
9. Eat well and exercise.
If your boss is stressing you out, maybe take up boxing once a week. Attending an exercise class will improve your energy levels.
10. Don’t sleep around the office.
It may seem like the easy route to golden opportunities, but news spreads fast. You don’t want to lose a promotion to the girl who stayed well behaved.
Being a workaholic isn’t always the road to a six figure salary. If you feel too caught up in the work spiral, just follow these top tips one step at a time.
