Do you know how many hours you’ve spent over the preseason and in-season with coach-related activities?

That means practices and games. It means planning and evaluation of practice and games, including but not limited to reviewing film, creating playbooks, and athlete, team, staff and administration meetings. It also means all associated travel time.

Now think about the balance of your coaching life verses other commitments, especially personal and family life. Which does it favor? No doubt it’s coaching, but are you happy with this balance? How well is it working for you or your family?

If you want to improve the balance between coaching and wider commitments, especially the family, it requires a carefully planned approach. Here are some suggestions offered by leading football coaches, based on their own experiences:

1. Calendar your family. Schedule specific time that’s just for you and your partner, your children and the whole family. Calendar them in so that time is blocked and doesn’t slip your mind.

2. Embrace inclusion. Football and family doesn’t have to be separate. Find a way to include family with football so that it can bring everyone closer. Bringing the family to games is logical, and so is having team dinners or social events that allow players and their family and friends to network.

3. Use technology to stay close. When involved in coach-related activities that keep you away, use today’s technology to support and feed the communication within and between the family. Phone calls, texting and visual technologies such as Skype and Facetime can help alleviate some challenges associated with prolonged absence.

4. Work SMART. Do what you can at the office to maximize the time you spend at home. If game films can be reviewed at home after the kids have gone to bed, do so to free up time with the family. Establish what else can be done at home and plan this into your schedule.

5. Avoid long days. Stanford University conducted a study in 2015 that showed productivity dramatically declined after 50 hours a week. Long hours lead to sleep deprivation, which further reduces your ability to work. You can put in 12-hour days with film and meetings, but tired time is not productive time.

RELATED LINK: Why sleep is so important for football players (and everyone else, too)

Limit your hours to no more than 50 each week, and spend the extra time with your family. You’ll find yourself recharged, productive and efficient when you return to the field or film room the next day.

6. Make the offseason count. The offseason to-do list is long — reevaluating the program, implementing new schemes, hiring assistants, managing team workouts. But this is also the best time to unplug and escape it all with your family.

Set aside (at minimum) one week for a family vacation. Don’t talk about work, and don’t do any work. It’s all about your family. This is critical because the season can be so hectic, which might force you to miss family/school functions and dinners. This is your opportunity to show your family it comes first.

Coaching is a demanding profession, but with some determination and creativity, everyone can strike a healthy balance between the gridiron and quality time with their families.

Sarah McQuade is an independent coach education consultant, owner and director of e.t.c coaching consultants and co-director with The Coach Learning Group. To learn more about accessing how-to coach skills workshops click the Coaching Skills button at www.etcoachingconsultants.com