I feel it… in the pit of my stomach often in the mornings on my way to work and when I leave to come home in the afternoon. In the mornings I wonder if I am making the right decision to work each day. What would my day look like if I was able to stay home with my baby? In the afternoons I wonder what my colleagues must be thinking about me when I rush out the door right at 5:00 p.m. or a little bit before. Do they know that I got in to the office early and how productive I was all day? Do they care? I am invested in and I care about my job, but I miss that little guy that is waiting on me to come pick him up. Actually, does he even realize that we have been apart for nine long hours?! In a baby’s world the day goes by pretty fast when you take nice, long naps, but I believe he knows that his mommy is not the one comforting him throughout the day.

I know that I am not alone in this. Many working parents consider these questions daily. As a fulltime working mom I am constantly evaluating and revaluating my circumstances. And what do I come up with? I love my job, it is financially responsible for me to work at this point in my life, and I completely trust the caregiver that I am leaving my child with daily. With these major life pieces in place, I continue to work. So, what do you do if your major pieces are not fitting? Make a change!

I know… it is not that easy, especially when you are completely strapped for time. I understand that your family, personal, social, and professional lives are all competing. It is difficult to even pick a point to start prioritizing. I believe a great place to start is with your career goals. It is important to work in a field or position that you love because that is where you spend the majority of your day. Your job has the tendency to affect your mood and behaviors during the nonworking hours. The IUAA Professional Enrichment Team offers the tools and resources to help you prioritize your career and personal goals or make your next career move.

We can help you discover your priorities and meet or exceed your work values by upping your career game with resume writing, interview prep, devising a networking plan, and/or salary negotiation. When your values are met you become more satisfied in your work environment and your time at home proves to be more meaningful.

The IUAA Professional Enrichment Team can also work through exercises to help you discover your top priorities if you don’t have a good understanding of why you are unsatisfied in your work. It could be that one of your values is off and a simple solution may be asking your supervisor for a small change that will make a huge difference. For instance, if the traffic at 5:00 p.m. is horrendous and frustrates you each day going to pick up your little one, you could ask your supervisor for permission to arrive 15 minutes earlier so you could leave at 4:45 p.m. to help in this situation. Talking this out is helpful in discovering underlying factors of dissatisfaction.

Your frustrations may not always be professionally related. It is important to be aware of how you spend your time and identify the competing events, people, and things that influence your decision making. Awareness of these blocks may help you to make a small or big change. Even coaching yourself to say “no” to one activity that is not a priority and eats away at your time can build confidence and give you a sense of relief and freedom.

Evaluate and reevaluate. It is time to make a positive change! Let us help! Members of the IU Alumni Association have access to one complimentary career coaching session annually. The IUAA Professional Enrichment Team hopes to hear from you soon!

Reach out to set up your custom career coaching session by calling 812-855-4822 and ask for Professional Enrichment, or email us at careers@alumni.iu.edu. We’ve got your back and want to help you navigate the realities of working and integrating your career into your life.

Erin Bruce
Assistant Director of Professional Enrichment