Finding a successful balance between having a career and looking after children is often one of the most challenging juggling acts for a woman to face in her entire life. Whilst the emotional impact of leaving a child at home can often be heart wrenching to say the least, dealing with the constant pressures of a professional career can often cause additional stress even when you do get to spend quality time alone with your baby. Even mothers who consider their work to be a basic job rather than a professional career may be faced with dealing with the pressures of working life as more companies feel the need to do more with fewer employees thanks to the current economic climate. If you’re a mother looking to balance your career with your home life, here are some tips and ideas.
Plan Pregnancy Wisely
Before you even become a mother, you can help to reduce the amount of stress and pressure that you’ll experience when you need to balance your work life and motherhood by planning your pregnancy at a point in your career where you feel that you are in a comfortable position to have a child. If you have a lot of work responsibilities, or you are working hard to achieve something in your career at the moment, falling pregnant at this time will only make it harder on you to carry on when you return to work. For this reason, it’s a good idea to plan your pregnancy for after you have achieved the desired result in your career life.
Find a Mum-Friendly Employer
One of the best ways to help you juggle your work life and your commitment as a mother is to find an employer who understands the needs of working mums. If you need to stay in your current job then this is not always possible, but if you can, searching for a job in your professional field in a mother-friendly environment can make a big difference to balancing between your work and your kids.
Get Extra Help
Many working mums see themselves as a failure if they need to enlist an extra pair of hands from an au pair service, but in reality, doing this doesn’t mean that you’ve failed at all – it’s actually a very wise decision. Because of your career, it’s inevitable that you won’t be able to be with your children 24/7, so placing them in the hands of a responsible caregiver to take over your responsibilities whilst you’re at work is a great way to ensure that you have less stress and that your children are happy and cared for. Whether you choose a childcare facility, a private childminder, or an au pair from Aufini, it’s a great idea that will really help you to find a good balance.
If you’re a working mum who’s got a wealth of advice to share with other mums starting out balancing their work and family life, we’d love to hear from you in the comments.