4 ways to prioritize family time after moving away from home 💌

Moving away from home: full of exciting new experiences and opportunities for personal growth...but don't forget to call your family!

Photo by Handiwork NYC on Unsplash

While you may live far away from your family, there are still plenty of ways to prioritize time with them.

After moving away from home, it can be difficult to balance your new commitments with family time.

Establishing a consistent routine can help you make time for your loved ones despite the distance!

• Create an open dialogue: Give your family a heads up on when you're free and how often you expect to spend time together. This can help you plan regular visits, phone calls, or video chats that aligns with everyone's schedules.

• Set aside specific days or times each week for family time: This could be a weekly Friday night video chat with your parents or a monthly weekend visit back home.

We're in the 21st century! Here are a couple of ways to stay close to your family

• Video chat: You may not be able to see your family in person, but being able to have a virtual face-to-face interaction can help you feel more connected to your loved ones.

• Text message: This is a casual and convenient way of staying in touch throughout the day. This form of communication does not usually require a scheduled time.

Seeing your family in person after being away can be an amazing destresser. However, when you live far away, planning your trips back home accordingly is important.

Here are some things to think about when planning trips back home:

• Quality over quantity: Consider returning home during longer breaks from work or school.You might not have the time, energy, or resources to go back home every weekend. You want to be fully present for the time you're with your family, not drained from the constant travel and work responsibilities.

• Communicate with family: When you're returning home, you likely want to be able to spend a lot of time with your loved ones. Make sure to pick a time that works for both you and your loved ones when planning your visit.

Schedules and consistency are great for staying connected, but you can't always guarantee life will not get in the way.

Being flexible and open to making occasional sacrifices for your family can help foster a sense of closeness and connectedness within your relationships.

• Be proactive: If you know when your family has important events coming up, plan ahead to make sure you can be there. This way, you can change your plans if needed.

• Know your priorities: If you have a family meeting but something else comes up, like a friend's party, you can always cancel or reschedule the meeting. Just think about what is most important to you.

• Understanding: You're not the only one with a busy life. Your family may need to reschedule your meetings/chats at times. Staying close with them also means not lashing out when they're seeking flexibility from you.

Being away from your loved ones can be hard, but with a little effort and consistency, staying close to them is more than possible!

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash