What single parent could not use more flexibility? The less rigidity we have in terms of when we need to be to work, what we have to do with our daily schedule and other realities of life, the more we can meet the needs of our families and feel in control of our own lives. What can a person do, however, in order to get MORE flexibility into his or her schedule?
For many of us, the biggest piece of our lives that eats up “set time” is our work and our jobs. If you have to punch a time clock or work established hours with no room for variance, it can really feel like shackles and make meeting the needs of a single parent family tough. The first thing to consider is whether or not you can make your current job more flexible. Is your boss open to letting you change your hours, work from home, or have a looser or flexible work schedule? If there are others in your workplace with the same challenges, perhaps you could all brainstorm together with the boss to see how the work can still get done, but with a more flexible schedule all around. If your job really is terribly rigid and you are not madly in love with it, perhaps it is time to look for something else.
Increasingly, more and more jobs are flexible or allow some flexibility in terms of scheduling. If you are feeling really ambitious, you might look into starting your own business or explore ways of working from home. The first step is to get over the fear and anxiety at making such a big change, and then start networking with others who have already done it. They will be able to provide you with guidance and encouragement for making a switch to more flexible work.
If changing your work schedule is out, then look for other obligations in your daily schedule that you can change. The more set obligations you have, the more strapped you may feel in terms of time. Try to change these to less rigid commitments. Perhaps set meetings can happen less often or gatherings with friends can become less regular and more spontaneous. You can even look for volunteer work that is on a drop-in basis instead of something you have to commit so many hours a week or month to.