Time Management for working parents: how self-aware are you?



One of the biggest challenges faced by all working parents is how to fit everything in:  we constantly feel as if we are running – perhaps because we physically are – but we can also feel like we are ‘running’ mentally too.

A quick and easy exercise to assess what naturally drives you is to take a 5-minute questionnaire.  Kahler’s Drivers (first launched all the way back in the 70’s) are a form of Transactional Analysis, and identified 5 common drivers that motivate us – which can also be the root of dysfunctional behaviours too.  Take the questionnaire here and then assess your strengths and weaknesses as below:

‘Be Perfect’

  • Good at detail, accurate, orderly, striving for the best, like control
  • High standards can cause stress & disappointment

 ‘Be Strong’

  • Good leaders, good in a crisis, straight-talking, tough
  • Don’t express feelings often, could come across as aloof and cold, can suffer high levels of stress

 ‘Hurry Up’

  • Get a lot done in a short period of time, great at meeting deadlines
  • Take too much on, overlook the detail, impatient

 ‘Try Hard’

  • Great pioneers, love new projects, new things to try, gather new ideas, work well under pressure
  • Start things but don’t finish, get side-tracked

 ‘Be Pleasing’

  • Great at teamwork, driven by pleasing others, good at mediating
  • Find it hard to make decisions, don’t readily express opinions, worry about people not liking them

Once you become aware of your natural drivers, you can think about how to adapt your style to make the most of your strengths.  Once you have identified your potential weaknesses, which have probably been adding to your stress, you can assess what changes need to be made to your daily routine.  Maybe then we will be able to reduce our running pace to a mere jog?


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