Juggling work and motherhood is very difficult, but we have some tips that may help.
Being a working mom can be incredibly tough. In fact, 77 percent of women say that they feel like they face a lot of pressure to be involved parents.
Undoubtedly, you do want to be an involved mother. But, this doesn’t make juggling your job with motherhood any easier.
So, how do you make sure that you can juggle your job and being a mother without losing your mind?
Check out this guide to learn about the top tips for juggling work and a new baby.
1. Set Up a Family Calendar
Managing the chaos of work and family life becomes a lot easier when you have every family member’s schedules in one place.
By having everyone’s appointments and commitments in one place, you’ll be able to know at a glance what’s going on for the coming week. Plus, this makes it easier to schedule in caregivers and babysitters.
You can go old school and use a calendar that you just hang on the wall, or, you can create a Google Calendar and share it with your spouse and older children.
The calendar should also include information like who’s taking care of and picking up your little ones on each day, and it should also note other things like doctor’s appointments, family activities, and other baby-related commitments.
Keeping track of everything is a tough challenge, so try using a shared calendar. READ: 11 Ways to Use Your Calendar That Are Guaranteed to Increase Productivity.
2. Get Baby to Bed
Getting your baby on a regular bedtime routine is one of the biggest keys to ensuring that things go smoothly as a working mother.
By having a set bedtime for your baby, it will make it much easier for you to come home after a long day and relax.
Also, keep in mind that some babies don’t sleep well at daycare. This can often lead to overtiredness and frequent night wakings. So, keep tabs on how much your baby sleeps during the day. If you find out that your baby isn’t sleeping well during the day, then try to establish an earlier bedtime.
My Traveling Baby can help you with ideas for getting your baby to bed earlier.
READ: Common Obstacles to Child Sleep and How to Fix It
3. Simplify Dinner
Who really wants to spend time prepping an extravagant dinner when there’s a cute baby that needs cuddling?
Luckily, there are a lot of things you can do to minimize cook time and maximize playtime. These include:
- Planning weekly meals: Plan your grocery list so that it revolves around your meals for the week. Write down the dinners you’re planning to make at the top of the list, and the ingredients below. This will prevent you from buying a slew of random snacks.
- Use the weekend to prep: Utilize the time when your baby is napping to prep your meals for the week.
- Make use of a slow cooker: Slow cookers are a secret weapon for working moms. Just throw the ingredients in during the morning, and then dinner will be ready when you get home.
READ: Dinner Tips for Working Moms
4. Take Care of Yourself
Last but not least, it’s very important that you schedule some time to take care of yourself as a working mom.
It may feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day, but if you shrug off personal care, then everything else is going to begin to slide.
If you can’t imagine finding time for yourself, try doing this: the next time you’re putting your family calendar together, schedule at least one event for yourself – whether it’s a yoga class or a lunch date. Once you get into the habit of self-care and rejuvenation, you’ll be hooked.
READ: 5 Blissful Ways to Spend Your Well-Deserved Mom Time
With these tips, it’ll be much easier to juggle motherhood and work!
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