Stay-at-home moms who also work often seem to enjoy the best of both worlds: they earn income while simultaneously caring for their beloved children. However, the reality can be more challenging, as balancing work and family life may not always be smooth sailing. Here are three tips on how to manage working from home with children around.
Consider Outsourcing and Delegation: Undertaking the roles of a full-time mother and a homemaker is quite demanding and often leaves your to-do list overloaded. Throw work assignments into the mix, and you could end up feeling overwhelmed. To keep balance, invest in the right products and gear to make mothering easier. Inexpensive house cleaning services could also help with house maintenance. Enroll your kids in activities that provide a 1-2 hour window for you to focus on work. Seeking help with meal prep – by pre-planning frozen dishes or subscribing to an online grocery plan – can enable more time for other tasks. And remember, even a CEO doesn’t juggle all tasks at once. They focus on vital duties and delegate others to their team. The same approach can apply to your home and work life. Above all, prioritize your family over work!
Avoid Simultaneous Multitasking: While multitasking seems to be a survival skill for moms, it’s essential to differentiate between work and family time. While there are unavoidable situations where both collide, thoroughly investing your time and attention into either work or family during allocated periods can prevent missed moments or lingering guilt. Resisting the temptation to mix technology with family time can enhance your availability and experience. The same discipline is vital during work hours – avoid getting sidetracked with irrelevant web browsing or TV shows. Balancing work and breaks can prevent work-related stress from spilling over into family time.
Improve Your To-Do List and Schedule: One of the best strategies for increasing productivity as a working mom is to optimize your task list and schedule. Rather than an endless list of to-dos, consider segregating tasks into monthly, weekly, and daily sections. It may seem like additional work at first, but it’s a helpful method to make your tasks seem less daunting. Also, aim to complete critical tasks earlier in the day. For your schedule, try to consolidate all personal appointments and errands into a single day each week. You could also consider preparing all dinners at the beginning of the month to reduce the frequency of grocery trips. These small changes can help save significant time and energy over the course of the month.
Balancing work and family life as a stay-at-home mom is indeed a challenging task. By implementing these strategies, you can make this journey a bit easier. So how do you, a stay-at-home working mom, maintain the balance?
