How to Create Life Balance as a Working Mom

It's not easy being a working mother. Working moms face the difficult challenge of balancing their full commitments to their careers and families. 

Being regarded as not being fully present either in an employee's role or as a mother can be draining and unthankful work. However, it doesn't have to be the case. 

It is possible to have a satisfying full-time career while still playing an active part as a mother if you can effectively strike an appropriate balance for your life and circumstances. It’s not easy, but it is possible. 

Working mothers may find it much simpler to balance their professional and personal lives with the helpful tips we explore in this article. 

Understanding Working Moms' Life Balance

Understanding what life balance means is critical in creating the best atmosphere for your professional and family life. 

The best way to view life balance is by looking at it as doing the right thing at the right time and not doing everything within a specified duration. 

Currently, you are a mother and a career person. Both are right. Even though you lead a particularly busy life, you should be able to feel secure since you are focusing your time on the things that truly matter.

That settled, here are some suggestions that could help you create life balance as a working mom.

1. Consider Your Current Season and Give Yourself Grace

It is of the utmost importance to keep in mind that life unfolds in cycles or seasons. A season is a unique set of conditions that requires your full attention, time, and energy. Your current season can provide insight into what your priorities should be. 

Be truthful about where you are in your career, whether you are just beginning your return to the workforce after having children or you have been a working mother for more than a decade. Additionally, your children's stages are uniquely their own, like starting their first year of high school. 

Or perhaps you have recently received news that one of your children has a learning disability. It is okay to sacrifice some priorities to concentrate on what truly matters.

If you are going through a difficult time now, note that it won't last forever. The seasons continually change. It does not matter where you are or what you are doing; the key is always to be present and act intentionally.

It isn't easy to never encounter a mother who was too easy on herself or gave herself excessive discredit. Mothers are typically so critical of their abilities that they may judge themselves too harshly.

If you're having trouble extending grace to yourself, ask yourself this question: If I were talking to a friend, would I talk to her the way I'm talking to myself? If not, you should get off it. Treat yourself more kindly.

2. Put Your Spouse First (If You're Married)

Your primary vocation, in my opinion, is being a wife and, after that, a mother. A significant number of mothers prioritise their children over their husbands. When life gets hectic and the kids take centerstage, you can drift from your spouse, forgetting that you're each other's strongest teammates and best supporters. If you have a solid, healthy, joyful, and connected marriage, everything else in your life, including your profession and your children, will be okay.

Even though you might feel like you have too much on your plate, you should still schedule some time on your calendar to spend with your partner. You'll need to sacrifice something to make room on your calendar for a weekly date night. Find quick and easy ways to interact with one another throughout the day.

If you're a single parent, know that you require support, which is why it's necessary to schedule regular get-togethers with your closest friends. If you regularly get love, support, and an ear to listen to from your friends, you will find that you have more energy and will be in a better position to love your spouse and children.

Related Article: How to Budget and Thrive as a Single Parent.

3. Don't Try to Do Everything

Your energy, money, and time are finite. You'll always face the dilemma of deciding how to allocate your financial resources. Either you make decisions that reflect your values and priorities, or you try to do everything at once and fail. Why? Because you can't accomplish everything you'd like to, you certainly can't do everything that everyone else would like you to do.

As a result, learn to live within your means! Saying no to several things can free up your time and energy to devote to the important things in life: your family and your job. 

Just because your peers can afford to go to every work event or school play doesn't mean you should. It would be best if you didn't try to do it all when doing so overstretches you too much that your core responsibilities suffer. 

4. Overcome Mom Guilt

It's extremely difficult to face and conquer the sense of mom guilt. Missing your child's sports event due to a work retreat makes you feel awful. There is a possibility that you feel bad about leaving work early again because your child is sick. You always feel horrible about yourself, regardless of what you do or don't do.

Note that among the benefits parents should get off of their work is the ability to easily get permission to attend your child's special function at school.

There is no benefit in social media, to be honest. Comparing yourself to others subjects you to irrational norms and expectations. Having to do everything at once is a burden you might experience due to society's expectation that you should be able to do it all.

Guilt can never make you a better mother. Instead, it results in agitation when you fail to identify the essential aspects of life. Not what our mother, sisters, or friends think is most significant, but what we value most. Looking for something unpossessed often brings the feeling of inadequacy. 

5. Be Present Wherever You Are

As a result of mom guilt, you can lack confidence in your abilities. When at home, you feel as if you should be working, and when at work, you feel guilty about missing your loved ones back at home. You're unintentionally contributing to your misery. Researchers discovered that being completely present is a major indication of pleasure in a Harvard study. 

Embrace the fact that your mind and body are in the same area at all times. You'll do more, be more present, and have more fun. Otherwise, you'll get sidetracked by your thoughts and emotions of guilt, and you'll miss out on the beauty of your one precious existence.

6. Make Time to Relax (Me Time)

The adult human body, according to studies, requires seven to eight hours of sleep per night to function properly. Some people might need even more than the recommended eight hours. Many mental and physical health issues can be traced back to a lack of sleep. Prioritise bedtime for you and your children. After a night of restful sleep, the world appears brighter and more vibrant.

Maintaining a sense of calm and equilibrium amid a demanding work and home schedule is essential. That's why you need to have some personal time apart from getting enough rest.

Moms are notorious for neglecting their needs in favour of those of others. But if you're not taking care of yourself, how can you be a good caregiver for others?

Do something that will enable you to refuel regularly. Meditation, reading, yoga, writing, exercise, catching up with a friend, or treating yourself are just a few activities that might help you relax.

7. Get Up Before the Kids

Even though getting enough sleep is critical, it's best to wake up before the children. Because you need alone time to maintain a healthy sense of equilibrium, and as a busy mom, this may be the only time you have to yourself during the day.

Plus, waking up earlier allows you to begin your day in a manner that is uniquely yours. If you're looking for a little time to yourself, this is the time to do it. Preparing for the day by spending some time alone in the morning will help you focus your mind and heart.

Related Article: Every Young Parent's Struggle: Planning for Children's Education.

8. Seek Assistance

Working mothers aren't the only ones who can't do it all alone! It's not a sign of weakness to ask for aid; it's a sign of humanity. When looking for inventive methods to delegate and decrease your workload, look no further than your family or coworkers.

Here are a couple of ideas to get you started:

• Try grocery shopping online or via delivery service.
• Hire a nanny or use daycare 
• Kids and spouses alike can help with household duties.
• Get someone to help you with laundry work at least weekly.

9. Network With Other Working Mothers

You're not the only one going through this. There are plenty of working mothers who feel the same way you do every day.

In the week, full-time moms have more time to organise meet-ups with other women, but working mothers can also benefit from the same type of group.

Make an effort to connect with coworkers who have children; these are women you can relate to on a whole new level. You can schedule your meeting over the weekend or go for a walk after work. 

When you share experiences and laugh together, you'll see that you're not alone in your struggles.

10. Don't Pass up These Opportunities

This stage of being a working parent won't endure forever, despite how it feels right now. Your children will eventually grow and leave the house. The days of diapers, pancakes on Saturdays, and music classes will soon be a distant memory. It's best to take advantage of these precious times and savour them.

Wrapping Up

Is it possible for a mother to have a successful career and a gratifying family life?

It is not completely out of the question.

Don't be fooled just because it doesn't appear exactly how you saw it in your head; that's not the point. 

Having a large to-do list isn't what life is all about. It is a gift from God to each of us. Try to find joy and beauty every day at work or with your children, no matter how difficult it may be.