In one of the most ridiculously ironic situations, I decided to begin my own freelance business thinking it would be the answer to better balancing motherhood and work.
Almost two years into that and L O L.
If you’re a business owner, you know that trying to balance motherhood and work is a wild, no-rules, everyone’s screaming, juggling act, where all the balls are about to crash down at any moment.
And if you’re not a business owner and working a regular job? It’s honestly still a pretty similar scene.
Truth is, working and raising kids is hard to do, no matter what kind of work you do.
- You run into childcare difficulties.
- Your kid randomly wakes up sick on the morning you have a can’t-miss, been-scheduled-for-weeks call.
- You struggle with wanting to be with your kids all the time (OK, let’s be real, definitely not all the time—but you know what I mean!), and wanting to also work enough to give them a life they deserve.
- You try to squeeze in some emails while pushing aside the guilt that you’ve planted them in front of the TV for the last hour and just one more episode of Bluey. (Thanks for being the best babysitter, Bluey!)
Yeah. It’s not ideal but you’re doing what you can do to make it all work.
Strategies to make balancing motherhood and work easier
You already know that you’re not going to find the secret, life-changing, work-life balance strategy within this blog post. (I’m still trying to find it. But when I do, you’ll be the first to know. Promise.)
Instead, there are some tiny-yet-impactful tweaks you can make to create a balance that’s a teensy bit more, well, balanced.
Of course, your life and situation is unique, so not all of these strategies will be for you. And that’s fine. Take what works and adjust as needed!
Building in personal time
For me, alone time outside of work and parenting is a total non-negotiable.
I just need some time to be with myself—whether that’s going for a morning walk, writing some morning pages, or reading a book. This time recharges my battery in a way that makes me a more patient mom and a more productive worker.
At the end of the day, you can’t be successful in either of those roles if your cup is empty.
So wherever you can in your day, try to prioritize that time for yourself. It’s gonna help you feel less overwhelmed and mom rage-y later.
Create boundaries between family time and work
The lines between work and home can be very easily blurred when you work from home or run your own business.
And so, completely easier said than done, once a hard boundary is created, it greatly reduces the overwhelm and feeling-like-you’re-all-over-the-place vibes we find ourselves in when trying to do it all.
This can look like:
- Setting strict work hours and sticking to them
- Not checking your email as you’re sitting down for dinner
- If you work from home, set the tone. Ie. shut the door to signify you’re working, etc.
- Communicate your boundaries with caregivers so they know to not call you or poke their head in your office to ask where the fruit pouches are
Setting up systems to save time
Your time is precious, and when the time you have with your family isn’t also filled with endless to-do list items that take away from bonding, it creates less stress for everyone.
Obviously we’re human and we have chores to do. But think about the to-do list items you especially dread and that take up the most time. Then see how they can be taken off your plate:
- Ask your partner to handle the laundry while you’re working
- Subscribe to diapers, or whatever else, so you’re never running to the store at 9pm because you ran out
- Order your groceries on Instacart if rushing through a busy supermarket makes you crazy
Whatever makes the most sense for you!
Redefine success
The thing is, being a parent while running a business changes things. There’s just no getting around it.
So that means we need to adjust our expectations and how we view success.
- Maybe right now we have to take on less projects.
- Maybe we can only work early in the morning and during nap time.
- Maybe we pick one marketing platform that works and give up trying to be everywhere at once.
When we change what success means to us, we tend to relax our white-knuckled grip on how we think things “should” be, and find beauty in how they are.
Remember: We’re All Human
Motherhood lives in the realm of the unknown. And so you could have the best of intentions, but sometimes that end-of-the-week deadline for the project you’re working on is no longer feasible. Or that discovery call you have has to get postponed. Or that DM you keep meaning to respond to has to wait another day.
Remember that people are largely more forgiving and understanding than we give them credit for.
So if something comes up that interferes with your work in anyway, respond when you can and offer an apology. They’ll get it.
And if not? That’s probably not the kind of client you wanna be working with anyway.
Finding Grace in Balancing Motherhood And Work
When it comes down to it, motherhood changes everything. And so while we can prioritize balance in these small ways, much peace also comes from being more flexible, grounding ourselves in the chaos, and breathing into all the discomfort and frustration over trying to do it all.
And isn’t that such a beautiful thing for your children to learn from you? What a lovely added bonus!
You got this, mama!
Hey, I’m Kristie! And besides writing website and email copy for the best businesses, I also help business-owners like you feel grounded and less chaotic.
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