Aricka Rediger

 
Twenty four hours never seems like enough time in the day, especially if you are working at least nine of those hours and sleeping for another eight on top of that. Between dropping the kids off at school, going to work, running errands, picking the kids up from school, participating in soccer practice, boy scouts, and cooking dinner, days can fly by. People have a difficult enough time getting through the work week without even getting the chance to get ahead in any facet of life. Juggling everything can be a great struggle and almost impossible at times. Recently, some families have been turning to technology in order to help organize their busy lives. This has proven to work well in the common struggle with time. Post-It notes and paper calendars no longer cut it. Handling both work and family life can be a great stress to most people, which can create an unhealthy lifestyle for many.

Turning to Technology

Years ago, Safeway came up with an extremely convenient and efficient way for people to order their groceries online and have them delivered to their front doors. This was a breakthrough for many people who literally did not have time for grocery shopping. This, along with the many other recent strides in technology, seemed to set the trend for the beginning of a more convenient lifestyle. As The Wall Street Journal suggests, these “newer and easier applications can tackle time-management nightmares that plague working parents. Shared online calendars synch family members’ busy schedules; meal-planning websites help get home-cooked dinners on the table, and videoconferencing can link parents on the road with family at home.” Not only is the Internet more convenient, efficient, and for the most part, less stressful, the Web also allow parents and working professionals to feel more in control of their busy lives. This also tends to lower stress levels, which is extremely important for people to live healthier lives.

PlumLife, a fairly new program, which only costs customers twenty-five cents per day, is a cutting edge way of managing the home, family, and work. This company started in order to help women manage their work outside of work- meaning the family and household. Although this was its’ original purpose, many people (both men and women) use it as a way to organize all of their daily, weekly, and monthly activities. As The Wall Street Journal reports, “PlumLife automatically sends email or text-message reminders shortly before an event to each person involved, then e-mails the person in charge about whether and how they responded.” This system has taken great strides in helping people juggle both their personal and working lives.

Other Avenues

Although technology can be a huge advantage for people trying to organize their lives, it will never solve everything. Extra steps need to be taken in order to handle life at its’ fullest. For many people, it will take realizing what daily activities are most important and cutting out the ones that are least. This gives people more time to spend with their families and friends or accomplishing projects and activities that are important to them. More and more often, people are finding that a work-life balance is more important than the right salary is. This is more commonly the number one wish for employees today. For the most part, people want quality of life, where life is the central focus and work is an important resource.