Author: Shadrack Wandera
Motherhood is one of the best things that life has to offer. It can, however, be tough and exhausting, especially for the new moms. New moms are used to a simple life where they just go to work and come back home. Being a new mom comes with multiple changes and new responsibilities. If a new mom decides to continue working and advancing their career, they have to look for excellent ways to balance their life.
A new mom working away from home and on a full-time basis may find it difficult to commit to her family and work fully. Ensuring that the tiny human is healthy and well attended is alone a tiring task. Adding work-life to the mix can make a mother find herself stretched very thin. It can be the most exhausting thing and, at times, thankless. This is because one will likely be perceived as not fully present as a mother or an employee. There are multiple things that may need attention over the day, and it’s easy for a mother to feel as if she’s not excelling in any of her responsibilities either at the workplace or at home.
Attaining a perfect work-life balance may seem unattainable. It’s, however, possible for a mother to pursue a gratifying full-time career while still taking an active role as a mother. One just needs to learn some vital strategies that will help them juggle both sides much easier. Several women have followed the tips to ensure they maintain some sanity and purpose as working moms.
Here are a number of tips on how new moms can balance work and family while ensuring career growth.
Let Go of the New Mom Guilt
There is a sexist stereotype in our superficially progressive society. New moms are often judged for “abandoning” their newborns, especially when they return to work full-time. Fathers, on the other hand, are the ones expected to work and provide for the entire family. There are some women who decide to be stay-home moms, whereas others decide not to give up on their careers. Choosing to go back to work for whatever reason, should be admired other than shamed or judged. If you’re feeling guilty about being unavailable for your child on a full-time basis, it is time you let the guilt go.
There are a million positive things that your work life will contribute to your family. These are the things you should focus on and be confident that you’re making the best choice for your entire family. The guilt shouldn’t hold you back because your baby will still experience your love and will later in life understand and appreciate your sacrifice.
Consider Using Some Time-Saving Hacks
Time is valuable, but on the other hand, it’s limited. A new mom has multiple responsibilities and should ensure that she gets most of the things done in the minimum time possible. It often feels impossible to fix all tasks into an already demanding schedule. To ensure she gives enough time to her family and work life, she’ll have to plan strategically and use some shortcuts. For instance, you can order any home utilities online and have them delivered to your home. This way, you’ll save much of your time and won’t forget anything. If your work consists of frequent conferences, you can schedule calls when commuting and run errands during tea and lunch breaks. This is a way of freeing up some more time during the week. Also, ensure that before going to bed, you’ve arranged everything that will be needed for the following morning. It helps you to get some more time with your baby in the morning before leaving for work.
Prioritize Tasks
There are a million things you’re expected to accomplish as a working mom. Always focus on the activities that have high urgency and attend to them first. Come up with a list of the things you’re expected to accomplish during the day and cross them off as you proceed. This way, you’ll be satisfied because you’re making some progress and capable of accomplishing important tasks both at home and at work.
Outsource Childcare from Providers You Can Trust
A working mom can only have peace of mind when they know their baby is well cared for. Therefore, it’s crucial that you should find a nanny, a daycare facility, or a relative whom you can trust with your baby. The daycare facility that you choose should have flexible hours, a minimum teacher-to-child ratio, a spacious, and a clean environment. It should also have some updated licenses. Nannies should have extensive experience with some reputable references. You can always give them a one day trial to observe whether they’ll meet your expectations. Knowing that your child is in good and caring hands will help you go about your work easily. You’ll concentrate on where you need to make improvements and pay attention to every detail.
Maintain Open Communication with Your Manager
As a new mom, you’ll need to be very flexible with your schedules. You’re the primary parent anytime the child has an appointment or requires some unique attention. This doesn’t mean that you’ll become a less productive employee. Changes will occur, but you’ll have to fully commit to your work. You can do this by communicating with the manager about your needs and how you can continue doing your job well. Your transparency and dedication to continue working while still committing to family duties will definitely be understood and appreciated. Working moms in most organizations tend to be the most productive. They skip lunch breaks, work on the weekends, and will never use their baby as an excuse to flop off.
Minimize Distractions and Time Wasters
Time is a valuable commodity for any working mom. They need to ensure they make good use of it to remain productive. To get most of your work time, you can reduce the time you spend socializing with colleagues, surfing the internet, and limit long lunch breaks. When at home, put your phone away and focus on your baby and partner. This will ensure you spend meaningful time together. When working full-time, you’ll probably have to spend a little time with your family each day. You, therefore, need to be fully present when you’re with them.
Get Sufficient Sleep
Nighttime sleep is extremely unpredictable in the early stages of motherhood. This is because your sleeping pattern entirely revolves around that one of your little one. You’ll have some frequent waking, which can make you feel exhausted, which in turn can reduce your productivity. For instance, my baby’s sleep varies from night to night. There are nights he can sleep for up to 10hours and others where by 4 a.m. he’s up. Getting enough sleep is crucial; therefore, I retire to bed quite early by 9.00 or 9.30 p.m. Even when I’m woken up within the night, I can still get at least six hours of sleep. This helps me to feel energized all day long.
Share the Housework
As a mom, there are some specific tasks that you only can perform, such as breastfeeding. However, other house chores shouldn’t fall solely on your shoulders. Your partner should chip in and help where he can. You can also consider outsourcing cleaning services. When working on a tight budget, it may seem difficult to justify spending your money on things you can do by yourself, but in this case, it’ll be money well spent. When you and your spouse come from work in the evening and share out the chores, you’ll have enough time with the bay and retire to be bed on time.
Reevaluate Your Commitments and Lower Your Expectations
Before becoming a mother, I’d have all the time to attend to party invitations or going on road trips. As a new mom, I have learned the art of saying “no” to things that may overload my schedules. I need to have as much time as possible with my little one and still focus on my career growth. You can do this by determining how much your schedule will handle and choosing activities that will give you more time with your baby. Never feel bad about saying no to extracurricular activities that would cause you anxiety than enjoyment. It also helps you to have enough time to rest when not at work.
As a working mom, I tend to have lots of pressure that I have to cook delicious and healthy meals every day while still maintaining a perfectly clean home. These are the expectations we put on ourselves. A house shouldn’t be spotless, and meals don’t have to be so incredible every time. Home-cooked meals each day are great, but take-outs and leftovers can also feed your family perfectly fine. You have to juggle between your career and family, therefore, have fewer expectations.
Enjoy Some Time to Yourself
Freeing up some time for yourself is an important thing to do. It has always helped me to maintain some inner peace and find a balance between the hectic work environment and family life. Mothers have developed a bad habit where they put other people’s needs first while not prioritizing their own. If you can’t take good care of yourself, how will you meet other people’s needs? Find an opportunity on regular basis to sneak in a little alone time. You’ll recharge as you relax, which is key to succeeding as a working mom. For me, I prefer to do some yoga exercises which help me to stay healthy and keep fit. There are many things you can engage in. For instance, you can schedule a massage jus as a way to take a little break from everyday hassle.
Spare Time and Connect with Other Working Moms
Stay-at-home moms are flexible and can organize meet-ups at any time of the week. It is also possible for working moms to have meet-ups at scheduled days and times. It will help you realize that you’re not alone. Many mothers outside there are also going through the tough hassle of trying to balance their work-life and family life. Seek out some other working mothers, and you’ll realize how well you can relate.
You can also connect with mothers who already managed to grow their careers while still taking care of their babies. It’ll help you garner some important tips and strategies to maneuver through. Remember, you shouldn’t compare your life to other moms. What worked for them may not work for you. For us, we schedule some walks after work or lunch dates on the weekend. We share stories, laugh together, which makes me feel that I don’t have to do everything all by myself. Always ensure that you’re meeting up in places that you can bring along your baby.
It’s absolutely possible for you to achieve a successful career growth and fulfilling family life. You may not do everything as you’re expected to do it, but always focus on the positive. Appreciate that there are incredible things that you’re achieving and take each day at a time. When growing up, most of our mothers used to work on full-time basis, but still managed to give us the attention and love we deserved. Keeping this in mind should help you feel at peace and that you’re following the right direction. It’s also a motivation to do what you love. If our mothers made it, who are we not to? Also keep in mind that, juggling between your career and family life, you’re setting an incredible example for your children. You’ll provide financially for your family, while still demonstrating what it is to make use of your passion and professional gifts.
Final Words
Achieving a perfect work and family life balance may be unattainable, but by following the above strategies, you’ll stay sane while doing it all. Other than these strategies, there are several other things that you’ll have to do to improve yourself. These include: avoiding procrastination, breaking bad habits, learning faster, and improving your focus
