Being a single parent, while working full time to put food on the table is not very easy. If the nature of your work is such that it does not allow you to take a break, or if you have to work exceptionally long hours, then it gets more difficult.

As a matter of fact, life as a single parent of young ones can also bring out an entirely new and diverse set of challenges as far as child care is concerned. And the ability to handle both of these demands simultaneously can be a taxing time indeed, for the single parent who has to carefully handle both his or her familial and parental responsibilities along with the rigors of a high-pressure job, as well. This is why the erstwhile single parents have to learn to multi-task quite effectively if they are to succeed in life. Let us see, exactly how they can go about doing that:

o Combine the complex mental tasks with simpler physical ones

The more complex mental task can be broken down into their constituent parts and taken care off piecemeal. Some examples of the simple physical and complex mental task combinations include the following:

o Think out a multifaceted problem with regard to your workplace, while standing under the shower or as you walk the dog.

o You can fold the kids’ laundry and also talk on the phone with your boss at the same time.

o Catch up on various assignments and work-related reading while waiting for your kids to get their flu shots at the local medical center.

However, this certainly does not mean that the same applies to ‘all’ of your tasks. Driving, for example, is neither a relatively simple nor a purely physical task, and it does require the full utilization of all your senses and faculties, and therefore, it should not be combined with anything else, at all.

o Respect your family and your work colleagues

Few things in life are more annoying than when the person you are talking to is either not giving you their full, undivided attention or is busy working on their latest article or blog while you are trying to talk to them. If you are just such a person, the odds are that sooner or later you will end up alienating many of those close to you.

And yes, the same rules also apply to your single parent family, as well. Children are very sensitive and if you promise them a visit to the zoo and instead end up being caught in work, they will be hurt pretty badly, to say the least.  And this holds true even more so if it was a trip that you had been planning and looking forward to, for a long time indeed. It does not matter if it’s your kids or your family; learn to respect the word that you gave them and keep the same as well.

Yes, the occasional work to play (or vice versa) overlap may well be all right, especially if you are adding a bit of playtime that you would not have done so otherwise. had. But nevertheless, the setting of boundaries between work and home can never really be overstressed, so that the young children also understand their place in your work-related environment, and also how you can accommodate them to the best of your abilities.

o Always try and Stay focused on the task at hand

If not done properly, the odds are that your multitasking abilities can also lead to a really scattered approach towards both your work, as well as home responsibilities. In other words, if you are not careful, then you just might end up with a whole stack of unfinished projects, as well as pretty resentful kids.

This is why, it is absolutely imperative that you do not allow the desire to accomplish more than one task at the same time, to derail you from doing the most important work Yes, it is relatively easy to get distracted, especially in a household where there are little children and no one around to help take the responsibility. But it will certainly become easier if you were to remain totally focused on the very specific task at hand, and moving on to the next one, only after you finish the original one.

o Learn to prioritize your responsibilities

The one all-important key to be a well-organized person, is to be able to know and understand what is the highest priority and what can wait further down the line. Here, making a list can be pretty helpful indeed, as it will help you become considerably more organized. In fact, it will be advisable to divide your ‘things to do’ list into three separate sections:

o Those things that need to be taken care of on an immediate basis

o Those tasks that are not all that urgent and can wait till the weekend

o All those tasks that can be safely categorized as ‘ongoing ‘or long-term projects

o Conclusion

In the light of the above discussion, we can easily see that it is quite possible for single parents to be able to effectively multi-task both their home as well as their career-related responsibilities, easily enough. And what is more they can also do the needful in spite of the fact that their kids may be very young indeed. We, at Tommy’s Team encourage single mothers and fathers to acquire an education and to progress in their careers while multi-tasking, to the best of their abilities.

We also actively work to make the community around us a better place to live in and would want and like “you” to send us “your” ideas so that we can continue our mission of helping out single parents as well as their offspring. You can join us just simply by registering at http://www.tommysteam.com/.....Like and Share....Helping Someone.....Somewhere.....