Getting It All Done (HBR Working Parents Series)

INTRODUCTION

Getting to “All Done”

by Daisy Dowling

A few years ago, when my daughter was a toddler, she would finish her breakfast with a triumphant ritual. After spooning up the last of her cereal, she’d shout “All done!” and beam with delight, then slam her fist down on the plastic tray table of her high chair with a loud bang for emphasis. Every morning, without fail, it was the same thing: the same sense of joyous competence at being able to handle the task in front of her, that same sense of completion and closure. I loved to watch her, but as embarrassing as this is to admit, I felt a little jealous. As a full-time working parent, I wasn’t in a “competence and completion” state of mind. In fact, it was more the reverse. By the time each ...