The Balance Collective Ask Me Anything: “How can I find time for myself within a busy career and family life?”

Does this question resonate with you, too? It comes up frequently with parents returning to work, trying to rebalance with a whole heap of brand-new responsibilities, and a shrinking diary! But it’s not exclusively just for new parents. Clients at every stage of their lives find tension between career and personal responsibilities; they are fighting a battle with their “old self” versus the new. It’s pretty timely that this has been asked as the final Ask Me Anything of 2025. December is traditionally a time where the day runs out before the to-do list does; celebration preparations, nursery and school activities and the impending festive break can make us feel quite frazzled! So, if you are wondering how you can find time for yourself within a busy career and family life, then this is the AMA for you!

 

How can I find time for myself within a busy career and family life?

 

My first instinct for this Q&A was to think about exercise or movement; maybe that is an indication that I need to work on it myself? However, once I started making my notes, something became clear. One of the answers to “how can I have more time for movement “ can be applied to all areas of wellbeing.

I wondered if the answer to parental wellbeing is simply snacking. This expands on the idea of exercise snacking (which I will discuss shortly), involving small activities that support wellbeing, even when your career and family life feel incredibly busy!

So, let me share with you some ideas!

 

Exercise Snacking

First attributed to Dr Howard Hartley in 2007, it was proposed as a way to support your heart health through short bursts of activity. Research supports this: having multiple movement breaks (such as climbing stairs, walking, dancing, or doing squats) lasting between 30 seconds and 10 minutes, spaced throughout the day, can really make a difference. Whilst this is most impactful for those who are generally inactive, if you can’t quite find the time, it’s reassuring to see that little and often, which may feel more achievable, has a benefit. It may just be a shift in perspective about what you can do in the time you have available.

 

 

Finance Snacking

Financial well-being is essential, and especially necessary for women, who are working under both the gender pay gap (both employed and self-employed) and the pension gap. It can feel overwhelming and impossible to set aside savings or invest for your future self, especially right now. Maybe “finance” snacking is the way forward.

That may look like, for now, educating yourself around finance. ( I really Help me I’m Poor Podcast and Nugget Savings) . But over time, it could look like taking a little-and-regular approach.

For me, that is through a “smart money app” that predicts what I can afford to save and invest, based on my financial behaviour. This is a growing and interesting part of the FinTech space, with several options available. I personally use Plum, but there are others out there (as well as bank accounts bringing the technology into their standard accounts)

 

Creative Snacking 

You may remember from my earlier blog post, “The Seven Types of Rest,” that creative rest is essential! Many parents I work with long for the time when they had the time and money for their creative hobbies. However, if you consider snacking, aka what’s the most you can do in the minimum amount of time, things can change. For example, it’s been found that reading for as little as six minutes a day reduced stress by up to 68%. Quite a return on investment! So ask yourself, what do you enjoy doing, and how can you fit it in?

 

Personal Development Snacking

I’ve had clients tell me it feels selfish to take time out of their day to work on their personal or professional development. I am sure you can imagine what answer I gave to that! Investing in yourself is a long-term investment, and the power is in the consistency. When you are limited on time (and/or energy), it can feel like an enormous hill to climb. Let me introduce you to a particular snack, Kaizen. Often utilised in business improvement, this is the idea of small, incremental changes. Another way you may know about this is “1% improvements”.

Either way, for now, your personal development needs to be short and sweet. Maybe you use that “magic six minutes” I mentioned above to read a book that inspires you. You could add to the concept of a “Ta-Da” list, ask yourself three powerful questions to help you strengthen your self-reflection skills. These questions are:

• What went well today?
• What did I learn?
• What would I like to improve?

 

 

Mindfulness Snacking 

Finally, but no less importantly, we want to think about bringing mindfulness into your day. That could look like meditation, breath work or stretching. It could feel more like being in “flow” and may show up in some of the other activities we have already talked about. As I often share, I’ve changed my “morning snooze” routine into a 10-15-minute guided meditation, before my second “GET UP NOW” alarm goes off. Granted, sometimes I fall back asleep, but I have that time to help centre and prepare myself for the day. Interestingly, research shows that if you are beginning meditation and your main aim is to reduce stress, then regular 10 minutes a day is enough to make an impact. It’s not as time-consuming as you may think

 

Now, this is just a quick overview of some elements of snacking for your wellbeing, both personally and professionally, and a sprinkle of the science that supports quality over quantity! I encourage you to consider the parts of your life that you are missing right now, and how grabbing a quality snack may help you get, well, a sense of “you” back.

 

I’d love to hear what works for you.

 

 

If you are looking for a coach or wellbeing trainer to create a career to enjoy, not endure, then reach out here.