Volunteering Vs. Time Management & Life Balance
How can I volunteer my time? Let me count the ways… As a busy woman, I’m sure you’ve had plenty of opportunities and requests that have come your way to volunteer your time. And once you’ve proven yourself to be a trustworthy volunteer, the requests will keep on a comin’. Requests may come in the form of any one of these worthy volunteer activities or a slew of many others not listed here:
1) Girl scouts
2) PTA
3) Room Mom in the classroom
4) Classroom party planner
5) Carpool duties
6) Church programs
7) Board position for an association that you belong to
Neighborhood block party planner
9) Art docent
10) Teacher’s helper
11) Field trip chaperone
12) Community needs such as food drives, school supply drives, food bank, homeless shelter, animal shelter, etc., etc.
There’s no possible way I could list all potential opportunities here, but as I’m sure you already know, the needs and options abound! But just like any other activities in our lives, we have to stand up and protect our life balance. I’m all for helping others as this is something near and dear to my heart, but I do believe we need to make sure that we aren’t spreading ourselves so thin that it causes stress for ourselves, makes us lose sleep or disrupts the balance in our homes with our own families.
To ensure that you can be of valuable help but not cross the line by stretching yourself too thin, please follow these tips:
1) Make sure that you understand how much of a commitment you are making before you say yes. It’s common for a position or activity to start out sounding like just a little thing, only to jump in and learn there are a lot of meetings and a lot more work than you planned for.
2) Consider removing another activity or position from your plate before taking on a new one. Just like stuff in our homes, there’s only so much room just as there’s only so much room in our schedules. If we keep taking on more, something else gets pushed out like sleep, eating healthy, time to clean your house or your sanity.
3) Make sure that you only say yes to activities that you are truly passionate about and are near and dear to your heart so it’s a joy to volunteer and not a drag.
4) Make sure you have the skills for the position or that you have the time and energy to learn something new.
If requests come your way that aren’t a good fit for you, here are 10 ways to say no gracefully to save face and manage your time and life balance.
Tags: Balance-Family, home, Home Organization, Home Organization Blog, Self, time management, volunteering, Women, work
May I say, as someone is constantly *recruiting* volunteers (I’m the PTA President at my kids’ school), that I feel particularly strongly about #3? I want help, yes, but please, *please* don’t volunteer if you’re going to find it unpleasant to do so. I’d rather cancel an event than have it staffed with people who resent being there. In the long run, it doesn’t even benefit the organization, because others see that you’re miserable, and we have an even harder time finding volunteers the next time around.
Thank you for your comment Janet, I completely agree! I think it’s better to pass if it’s not your cup of tea and let someone else who is a better fit and excited about the task to take over.