Amazing Advice for Working Moms to Balance Their Work and Home Lives

In this modern age where feminism is encouraged within society, women are no longer beholden to traditional gender roles like staying at home to tend to the house, cook meals, and look after the wellbeing of children. Today, women can make the choice to break away from being just a housewife, but to make something of themselves in the professional world. Many females today understand that just because they can pursue lucrative careers doesn’t mean that they have to give up their dreams to start a family.

They know that if men can do the same thing to provide for their families, then they can also work just as hard to prove that they can contribute something worthwhile to the household beyond the expected duties of a typical housewife. For the enlightened women of this time in our lives, they can embody both being a breadwinner as well as being the one who makes the bread for their families to eat, so to speak.

But the job of a working mother isn’t exactly a walk in the park; juggling the responsibilities of their personal and professional lives is the constant struggle that defines the women who willingly choose this road. Oftentimes, the stress of balancing the two halves of their lives can lead to problems that manifest themselves on the body in physical, mental, and emotional ways. Too often, most people take their mothers for granted—especially mothers who work for a living—that they don’t realize the extent of the sacrifices they do every single day just to ensure the happiness and survival of their families.

And if you happen to be a working mom reading this, then you know exactly how it feels to carry the weight of this burden. But just because you’ve made a conscious decision to hold a steady job while still being a matriarch of your home doesn’t mean that you can’t make your life a little bit easier. Take a closer look at the pieces of advice featured below to know how you could live your life as a working mother without spiraling out of control.

Multi-tasking is your secret weapon

Working moms have a lot of things to do on their list, and this can sometimes be an understatement given the amount of work they have to do to guarantee that their careers and their households are in perfect order. But what women are especially good at is the ability to multi-task, and this can be the very thing that could make things run smoothly on your end. Several research studies have shown that women are much better than men when it comes to multi-tasking, and so you must harness your ability to do multiple things concurrently in order to save precious time on your hands.

Consider this illuminating example: while you’re at work in the office, you could easily pay your household bills online and create weekly meal plans during your lunch break; then while you’re at home, you could easily organize and respond to your email messages while cooking dinner for your family or before you sleep for the night. How you are able to multi-task several things is up to you, but just make sure that you allocate certain tasks at the right time to avoid conflict.

Be strategic about working at home

There will be times when you are prompted to bring your work at home with you so that instead of doing overtime at the office, you’ll be able to catch up on your tasks in the comforts of your house. This method works better for working moms who want to clear any backlogs of work because they could use this as a means to actively bond with their children, thus fulfilling their mothering roles without compromising on their work duties. This is best exemplified by making your kids do homework with you in the same room while you’re working on your documents or spreadsheets saved in your laptop.

You could explain to your kids that you’re simply doing a grown-up version of homework in the same way that they’re doing assignments and projects for their studies in school. It’s a smart and effective way to spend quality time with your kids even when you’re all doing something productive and important. Best of all, if your kids will ask you for help with a homework question they don’t understand, your presence will be valuable since you are there to help as a mom.

The early bird catches all the worms

We cannot stress the importance and significance of waking up early since working moms have a lot of tasks to handle on their plates, and they need all the time they can get to start their day right and clear several essential things off their “things to do at home” list before heading off to work. For instance, if you know that you have to be at the office at 9 A.M and that it takes you a certain amount of time to commute to your office building, then you have to wake up at around 4 A.M. or 5 A.M. at the very latest so that you’ll have ample time to prepare breakfast for your family, as well as packing lunch for your kids before they go to school.

Waking up early will also give you the added advantage of doing other household tasks like taking your laundry to the washing machine or doing a quick and efficient tidying up of any minor messes in your living room. Furthermore, making a habit of rising very early in the morning will allow you to not only check your work email before you even arrive at the office, but to also indulge in your daily beauty routine after showering and choosing a fabulous outfit while you’re getting dressed for work. After all, just because you’re a working mom doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to look your very best.

Always be prepared for contingencies

Because you’re a mother, you are expected to always be prepared in any given situation. Thus, it’s important for you to stay several steps ahead in order to make sure that when problems arise, you won’t be frazzled by the dilemmas bombarding you. A good way to ensure that you’re fully prepared is to utilize your car as an emergency storage hub where you’ll be able to have access to certain things you need in case you’re not at home to resolve any crisis situations. For example: always store an extra outfit and a pair of shoes in your car in case you break your heels or spill some coffee or food on your clothes while at work.

This saves you the trouble of driving all the way back home just to change into something new. Another tip is to keep an emergency snack stash in the glove compartment of your car for when you’re picking up your kids from school and they need something to tide them over before dinner during the drive back to your house. And most importantly, always have a first aid kit on hand in case of minor injuries sustained at work so that you won’t have to waste time getting treated at the hospital and missing precious work hours.

Never forget to treat yourself

With all the stress that comes with being a working mother, sometimes you can forget that you deserve a break every once in a while in order to enjoy the feeling of rest and relaxation. Truly, nothing can be more liberating to working moms everywhere than knowing they are able to take a breather from the hectic pace of their lives. Thus, it’s important for you to save a portion of your busy schedule that is exclusively dedicated to focusing on your holistic wellbeing. You have the option of either spending it with your spouse, your kids, or by yourself should you prefer to do so.

Just some of the fantastic things you can do during your “me time” include retail therapy by shopping at your favorite stores or booking an appointment at a spa for a series of soothing treatments like massages, sauna baths, and mani-pedis. If you prefer to spend your private time at home, then you can have a wonderful staycation with your family and bond with them through cooking heirloom family recipes in your kitchen or marathon watching all of your favorite movies or episodes of your preferred TV shows. Always remember that there’s no limit to what you can do when you want to decompress after a long work week.