ildred B. Vermont once said “Being a full-time mother is one of the highest salaried jobs in my field, since the payment is pure love.” I’d have to agree, but it’s just a shame you can’t pay bills with affection.
In my 31 months of motherhood I’ve been a stay-at-home, work-from-home and working mother. I’ve worked for myself and for others, which means I’ve tried almost every combination available to a working mother. Each new experience has meant I’ve learned what does and doesn’t work.
So if you are combining a family and paid employment, here are my five top tips for an easier ride:
1. Get organised. I’ve found the most important key to success has been organisation. The more organised I am, the less stressed I feel. Plan your weekly meals in advance, order groceries online and always organise as much as you can the night before to avoid a mad rush out the door.
2. Leave guilt behind. Guilt is often a working mother’s nosy neighbour, popping in when you’re busy, tired or simply feeling low. Try to leave guilt at the door. More often than not, it’s a sign you’re trying to be the best mother you can be and that’s all you – or anyone else – can ask for.
3. Define work and play. If you’ve found yourself rocking a baby with one arm and responding to emails with another, try separating the two. When you’re working, work and when you’re mothering, mother. Otherwise you may feel you don’t either well. This might mean getting up early or working after your babies are in bed, but you’ll probably find you’re far more productive (and happier) when you do.
4. Cherish your time off. We all know quality isn’t married to quantity so make your evenings and weekends sacred. Happy memories aren’t based on a catalogue of hours spent together, but rather what you did in the hours you had. The emails, washing and housework can wait.
5. Be kind to yourself. Juggling work and the responsibilities of a family can be tough, so be kind to yourself. Take an extra long bath or buy a new magazine. And remember, it really doesn’t matter if your floors aren’t clean enough to serve dinner off. That’s what tables are for.
Thank you so much for your great tips Khali. You can read more from Khali over at little. lovely. where she shares lots of lovely ideas for little people. Be prepared to fall in love!
I love those tips. And I think I need to follow them…
ohmygoodness, I needed that after yet another night still up working at 1.30am and then hours of tears about about how I am trying to do everything, and doing none of it well, and sacrificing my babies' care for something I'm not even enjoying.
There's even a rather hysterical blog post saved that I won't hit 'publish' on, but desperately needed to get off my chest.
Thank you Khali and Telle
xxx
Great tips, I could really use some of these. Specially the one about define work and play.
Couldn't agree more! Great tips. I too have done the combination of all 3 and I think it's given me great perspective on things. x
#3 is my best tip to, as a stay at home mum, work at home mum & working mum as well. I've now made the rule that no computers whilst my son is awake to distract me from him.
This advice is exactly what I needed today! Thank you.
Wow, I couldn't get past the 31mths…it's all great advice, just not so easy to execute when those months hit the double digit range and you add in all the things that go along with older children.
Family-work balance is a complex issue. thanks for this true advice on ways to juggle work and family from other working moms including those who make money at home
I think working full time and being a mum is the hardest thing I have ever done. The guilt that goes with it is awful. My little Liam has his second bout of conjunctivitis this year so I am back at home working today. Thank god for my family friendly employer. I agree with all those tips. It was so nice to read that I am not the only one that feels this way.
These are great tips! I have been a working Mum of 3 boys for 10 years now – my oldest is 10, youngest is 18 months. The best advice I have is to get yourself a cleaner. We love our cleaning lady, she comes every Thursday and we all look forward to it. Every Thursday night we have take away and the kids have tuck shop the next day – that we don't mess up the kitchen for at least 24 hours!
I particularly like the guilt one- we beat ourselves up too much. Give yourself a break, you're doing your best!
You have a gorgeous blog! Have a great day!
You lost me at “organization” lol I'm shocking at getting and staying organized. It doesn't seem to matter how hard I work to get everything in to some sort of order I always seem to fall back into old habits.
Great post. Working and being a mum at the same time is so hard, I always feel like I'm letting someone down in one area or another. And no matter what, I'm always letting myself down because I don't look after myelf properly… I'm way down on the list! So difficult to balance everything
All so very true.
Great post, great tips… thanks for sharing xx
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