We can all agree: being a working mom is hard! Returning to work after you emerged as an entirely new person, a mother, is beyond stressful and overwhelming.
Yes, moms are overwhelmed. We are pulled in all directions, between baby, career, significant other, home, and everything else in our lives. It’s not easy. But it can be less stressful and more blissful.
Yes, working moms can find bliss and joy in the chaos that is our life. Here’s how! Keep reading for tips for working moms with babies and how we, too, can have a blissful life!
Tips for the Full-Time Working Mom Who is Overwhelmed
Mindset
First, we focus on our mindset. Yes, this is first because our attitude is everything. We can’t control what is happening in our lives (maybe to a degree, but not entirely) but we can control our reactions and how we internalize the information.
Focusing our energy on mindfulness and developing an “attitude of gratitude” is the key to make a happier overall person.
How do we practice mindfulness? We can start simple by thinking about how we are feeling at the moment. What sensations do we notice?
For example, if you’re sitting in a chair, notice the sensation of the chair against your back and your legs. Feel the ground beneath your feet. This type of thinking re-centers our minds and helps us process feelings and experiences better (by using the logical part of the brain and not the passionate emotional part of the brain).
Learning the art of saying no
When our lives are already overflowing with the amazing duties of caring for a new life, it is difficult to add more to our plates. Our overflowing life is where we learn to set boundaries and learn the art of saying no.
We don’t need to chase after every project at work. We don’t need to renovate our houses right now. What we need is to focus on a healthy balance of work and play. What we need is to manage the overwhelm, rather than let the overwhelm take over.
We can also say no to things at home that do not require our attention. Delegate tasks where you can. If your budget can afford it, get a cleaning service once a month. Utilize grocery pickup or delivery options in your area, and choose quick and easy dinner recipes for your family meal plan. Find shortcuts to everyday tasks that can help you out. There’s absolutely no shame in saying no to doing these yourself.
Tips for Working Moms with Babies
Create an organized working mom schedule
If you’re looking for time management tips for working moms, this paragraph is for you!
An organized working mom schedule is so important to keep us sane and on time! I wholeheartedly believe in evening routines and morning routines.
These routines will help things keep moving smoothly and will keep you from forgetting something important! You want to set up these routines based on how your evenings and mornings are going. If you’re a morning person, you might consider waking up earlier to review your planner and to-do list, pack lunches, and set our everyone’s clothes and bags. If you’re an evening person, do this before bed.
Make checklists to keep from forgetting to do a task or to bring something vital with you to work or daycare drop off. Do specific tasks in the same order each evening and morning to keep you from going off-schedule. Hint: toddlers love to do everything in a particular order. Get in the habit of doing activities in a certain way now while your baby is little, to transition easier to toddlerhood and minimize morning tantrums.
Tips on How to balance work and family
Balance can be a nebulous term, but I tend to think of it visually as the scales shifting back and forth. You might never settle in the middle for long. Instead, you find yourself drifting from one end to the other.
Life is like that – a continuous shift, a pendulum versus a stationary thing. Sometimes family takes priority – holidays, family vacations, or if someone is ill. Other times, you might shift toward a more work-focused mindset. This shift is essential for deadlines and big projects.
Understand that you can find that blissful shift in balance by allowing the priorities that truly matter at the moment to prevail.
You can be a successful working mom
Working full-time with a baby is rough, but mamas we can handle it! We can find solutions and routines to help us figure out how to be a successful working mom. Yes, it will be difficult. Yes, we might struggle and sometimes feel like we are failing. But that is normal, our new normal. Yes, it is possible to find our bliss as working moms. With a little juggling, some good use of systems, and a happy mindset, we can manage our new life.
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