YP Moms Looking for Work-Life Balance

My latest story for YPNation is on a subject that's always been of interest for me: work-life balance. I think most young women with career aspirations and the hope to one day have a family realize that they'll be faced with the challenge of how to make it all work. I interviewed some intelligent, interesting women for this piece and they all had different and realistic solutions for the working mom dilemma.

A Return to Cube Life

I returned to the world of 9-to-5 and cubicles a few weeks ago when I began my summer internship. I hadn't worked a 40-hour Dilbert-style work week in over a year, but I knew I would quickly fall back into old office life habits.

I've also fallen back on my old my cubicle survival techniques, expertly developed over my 2+ years spent at a cube in an office full of other cubes.

In no particular order, I present My Top 3 Cube Life Tips:

1. Always have a water bottle handy. Sure, frequent trips to the office water cooler lead to frequent trips to the restroom, but I've found that I will mindlessly drink water when cubing if I have a full bottle nearby. If you're going to sit on your butt for nearly 8 hours, you might as well be hydrated.

2. Pandora, Pandora, Pandora. Free, customizable Internet radio. How did people work before Pandora?

3. Always take your lunch break. Ok, so maybe it's not always possible, but taking a break from the computer and going outside for a bit makes the workday go by faster. I know it's easy to stay planted in the cube and eat lunch zoning out in front of the computer, but going out for even a quick walk makes the afternoon more bearable. Take your hands off the keyboard and get movin' outside!