Today we have a guest post from the lovely Kristi discussing how, as a working mum, it’s possible to find the perfect balance between your family and your career.
I’m going to hand you straight over to Kristi.
A Working Mum’s 7 Secrets to Balancing Family and Career
In our world of today, the workforce consists of more mums than ever. In fact, in developed countries like the UK and the United States, up to half of all workers are women according to the Centre of American Progress. This means that thousands of mothers out there have to go through a lot to balance between their career and motherhood.
If you are a working mum, you will agree with me that everything does not always go smoothly as sometimes you feel tired and overwhelmed like a mouse that is endlessly running on a wheel.
But thousands of working mothers out there have learnt to find a way of balancing family and career perfectly. Therefore, I am going to let you in on a working mum’s secret to balancing family and career so that you can take on this challenge before you and come out on top.
I have had the opportunity to interview several working mums, and they all admit that when they are working, they always feel like they should be with their kids. But when they are with their kids, they feel like they should be working.
This sense of guilt is what makes balancing family and career a not-so-easy task for a working mother. However, with the best strategies, you can carve out your life into one that balances all of your many responsibilities and needs.
Here are 7 ways in which you can flourish in balancing between your family and career:
Get and Stay Organised
Since time is a precious and scarce commodity for a working mum, keeping everything clean and organised will save you the time you would have wasted looking for files, finding a pen or going through your junk emails. Have all your supplies in a place where you can immediately reach them.
Schedule Daily Me-Time
If you want to feel more balanced and fulfilled about all of the sacrifices that you are making for your family, then the secret is setting aside some time on a daily basis for yourself. Even if it is only for 30 minutes in a day, setting apart some time for yourself will help you stay calm and feel less resentful about your busy schedule.
Have a List of Essential Things That You Need to Do
“Lists are essential in helping me keep on top of things, so I keep a list of things that I need to do over the next few days,” says Caroline Streeter, a registered dietitian and a mother of two in St. Petersburg, Florida.
However, you should ensure that your to-do- list is not so unreasonable and detailed that it is not doable.
According to Maureen Petrosky, who is a Motherboard spokesperson, a lot of women get sunk before they even get started because they have placed too many demands on themselves.
Share the Chores
Chores are everyone’s work – not just women’s work.
You can lighten your load by putting your kids to help with the daily chores. This will also teach them a valuable lesson as they will learn that it is important for everyone to do their part.
Jenniffer Reisel, another member of Motherboard, puts her whole family to work on her schedule, including her son and daughter who are 15 and 12 years old respectively. The end result is that all work gets done leaving Reisel with a few more minutes to carve out some time for herself.
Reconnect With your Better Half
Did you know that creating “we” time is just as important as “me” time? This is because doing something together with your spouse, no matter what it is, will help you focus and pay attention to each other.
Form a Support Network
Connecting with other working mums in your neighbourhood can help you reach out to one another. A friend can offer to pick up one of your kids if you are held up, giving you one less trip to make.
Knowing that you are not the only one struggling to find a balance between family and career will also help to boost your mood, according to experts.
Lower your Expectations
It’s in the habit of women to always want to do things to perfection. This makes working mothers fall into the trap of clinging to the notion that they can go about their 9 to 5 and still do things perfectly in the house.
But the truth is, you don’t have to do things perfectly. The best way to balance between your family and career without letting your stress level shoot through the roof is by cutting yourself some slack in any area you can.
Conclusion
Although there is no magic formula for juggling between work and motherhood, with the right tactics, you can learn to balance between family and career. Take a look at the ways mentioned above of balancing between your family and career so you can find a few things that will apply to your life to help you have a successful career and a wonderful family.
Author Bio: My name is Kristi and I’m a mother of 3 beautiful angels, founder of Intelligentmother.com. This blog was created in order to share my personal experiences in baby care and general health care for pregnant women. You will surely find many interesting insights and problems solved on this blog.
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