Young Achievers Fight For More Family Time

Gone are the days of choosing a career or a family. Today’s young professionals are choosing to have it all and do it all.

But many young professionals are finding themselves struggling to find time for everyone and everything.

For Tina Hodne, a lawyer for Cypert Crouch Clark & Harwell PLLC of Springdale, a real estate agent for Griffin Company Realtors of Springdale, a wife and a mother of two, time management and balance between work and home is essential to maintaining a successful career. Not to mention carving out time for family and friends.

And according to a survey of this year’s 40 Under 40 honorees, conducted by the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal, Hodne is not alone in her daily struggle to get it all done. Sixty-five percent of the young professionals surveyed said time management and balance is their biggest challenge in life.

“I have two small children and getting them to and from daycare every day is one of my biggest challenges,” Hodne said. “I am involved in my community and I am constantly busy. It is a challenge to fit it all in. I constantly wish I had more alone time and time to spend with my husband.”

Randy Hutchinson has it all – his own real estate agency, a wife and three sons. Hutchinson is the first to admit that raising children and managing a career is a daily struggle, but one that he wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

Before Randy Hutchinson owned his own Shelter Insurance agency, he worked for Shelter Insurance at the corporate level.

It was in that capacity that Hutchinson said he learned how to stay on top of projects and demands and manage his time at work.

Hutchinson said he still uses his time management skills to sustain happy customers and a successful agency but now he also uses his skills to help him work his family into the equation.

 “I’m a big family guy – family comes before work when possible,” Hutchinson said. “I have to do what is needed to do to keep my company happy but once that is accomplished – if I can get out half an hour early I will try to. It all goes back to time management skills- they are important for me because I have three boys and I want to go to their games, concerts; I want to be there for my kids.”

Bruce Johanson, co-owner of Johanson Consulting Group of Fayetteville, teaches Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Successful People. According to Covey, time management falls third on the list of needed skills for busy professionals.

 “Covey uses a clock and a compass to symbolize time management,” Johanson said. “The clock reminds people to schedule their day and stay on top of work and deadlines. The compass symbolizes direction and balance, which reminds people to not get caught up in one aspect or another in their life. Covey emphasizes the need to both manage your time and balance everything in your life.”

Finding balance between work and home is essential to creating a happy life Johanson said, but for many, finding the balance is easier said than done.

Hodne said finding time for both her career and her family can often get difficult and can come at the expense of her personal time.

“I am constantly busy,” Hodne said. “I see my girlfriends getting manicures and pedicures and I get jealous. I wish I had more time for myself and for my husband but I have other commitments right now.”

The equation and balance between work and family is different for everyone and finding what fits is the first step in managing it all.

“Everyone is different and everyone has different responsibilities and demands,” Johanson said. “Life for a person with two young children is very different from someone who is single. Everyone has to figure out for themselves what combination makes them happy and works for them.”

Charles Redfield, senior vice president of Wal-Mart Sam’s Club division, said creating symmetry between work and family has proven to be a challenge at times but one he doesn’t mind tackling.

Redfield, who has an 8 year-old who plays baseball and soccer and a 4 year-old, said family time dominates his weekly schedule.

“How I manage my calendar is most important,” Redfield said. “My company allows me to take care of personal issues. The responsibility is on me. If I plan right I always have time for family. It’s a priority for me.”

Because he is his own boss, Hutchinson said he has the freedom to leave the office a little early one day if he needs to.

Like Redfield, Hutchinson said he works to get all his work responsibilities completed so that he has time for his wife and sons.

Despite the scheduling, planning and sacrifice, many young professionals admit that there are days it does not all fit, but the daily struggle is worth having it all.

“I still don’t get to do everything,” Redfield said. “I’d like to take him (the 8 year-old) out to lunch once a week but I can’t always do that. I try but I still wish it was better.”