How Much Time Do You Actually Spend With the People You Love?
The other day at 1:30 in the morning, I looked into my daughter’s bedroom to check on her before bed, and realized that I wasted about 15 minutes a day before actually talking to her. The same thing the day before.
I worked overtime, took on additional projects. My family got used to it, but at that moment I realized that I didn’t want them, or that quality time was left only on weekends.
On the good news, the Washington Post says quality time is more important than quantity, so we parents need to stop worrying about how much time we spend with our families. And the New York Times reassures us:
Of course, you cannot have these transcendental moments if you are not together – to some extent, quantity begets quality. And here’s where this research needs to go back to reassure parents. We spend time with our children, especially when looking not at one bad day, but at a week, month, year, all childhood spent together. When we ask ourselves, we tend to look not at the cumulative sum of our time, but at what we fear we have missed. We do not need to spend every minute with our children or every minute in close communication. The time we spend separately (sleeping, working, studying, building blocks, doing sports, looking into space) also contributes something to our interactions. It’s time to look at our family calendars half full, not half blank.
However, I remind myself to spend more time and energy where I receive the most rewards.
How is your work-life balance?
Find time for the kids? Research says quality is more important than quantity | Washington Post
Amount of time creates quality time, and parents spend enough time on both | New York Times