Pages

Monday

6 Essential Tips For Working Mothers

"A mother's work is never done" (sigh). Just when you think you're through, you find you've only just begun. You aren’t the only one!

If the pressure of balancing your work and parenting is ultimately leading you to give both your work and family less, it is time to find a new parenting strategy and quick! When a work from home mom decides to set clear boundaries and manage her time effectively she can dramatically reduce parenting stress and boost her parenting joy. So let’s get started.

Six Essential Work Life Survival Parenting Tips for the Work at Home Mom (WAHM)

Your happiness as a work at home mom (WAHM) depends on your commitment to following these six parenting time management tips:

1. Ban your open door policy. Set your work hours and stick with them. Unless your job requires you to answer the phone, answer it only on your schedule. A work at home mom (WAHM) has no time for distractions (especially from your kids and spouse—likely your biggest distractions). This only leads to low productivity. Make certain every member of your household knows the times of day when you are and are not available for interruptions and stick with this schedule.

2. Involve your family in what you do. Talk about what you do, ask your family to help solve work problems (children often find very creative solutions), and let them help you with small jobs like licking envelopes. One work at home mom I know asked her nine year old daughter to answer the business telephone when the receptionist called in sick, on one of their biggest sales days. This boosted her daughter's self-esteem and also helped her appreciate how her mother's work put a roof over her head, food in her mouth and clothes on her back.

3. Consciously make the transition from work to home. When it is family time, focus on the family. Make certain you have cleared the work cobwebs from your head. Write down your to-do list for the next day and ask yourself before you leave your desk, "How can I make my time with my family special?" Then smile and give them a hug when you see them. Too tired? Take a 20 minute cat nap, a quick walk, meditate for a short while or say a little prayer to let go of your day, so you can be all they deserve you to be.

4. Remember it's about quality time, not quantity time. When you are with your family, be with your family. Leave work behind so you can focus on them. "Light up" as soon as they come into the room and find fun ways to do mealtimes, and even clean-up times together. Half an hour of positive can prevent dozens of hours of misbehavior.

5. Solve misbehavior time-wasters. As a family counselor, I regularly hear variations on the complaint, "My kids are driving me crazy, but I'm too crazy to find time to learn how to stop them from driving me crazy." There are simple ways to motivate your children to want to be well behaved. Invest the time now, so you don't spend more time and frustration later on (which of course takes away from time you can devote to your work).

6. Schedule your self-care time. The most critical key to your WAHM success is to nurture some of your needs so you can continually renew your passion for parenting. You need time to replenish your energy so you can be more efficient, productive and happy. With so much on your plate it is essential that you schedule a minimum of 20 minutes a day for you. Before or after the kids are in bed is generally the easiest to stick with.

By the way, if putting your self-care needs first makes you feel guilty and selfish, then don't do it for you—do it for your family. It is time that your self-care became a necessity, not a luxury so you can give more to all you do—at both work and home. Remember that if you are emotionally and physically healthy, you will be able to give more quality time to your family.

The six parenting time-management tips above will allow even the busiest work at home mom to finally have her cake and eat it too. By successfully balancing work and family, you will model for your children a fulfilled and healthy woman and your family will no longer have to deal with a "burnout-mom" but a happy one!


Kelly Nault-Matzen, M.A., is a corporate spokesperson, mother and wife, family counselor and founder of http://UltimateParent.Com —a company that provides parenting resources such as the Mommy Moments online parenting course. To gain access to more parenting tools visit http://www.ultimateparenting.com

No comments:

Powered by FeedBurner

When Mothers Cry Blog Archive

Something for every kind of mother

abortion about us abused abused pregnant women abusive partner adult sons and daughters adultery affordable housing aging parents alcoholism andropause angry at God angry daughter angry mother angry mothers anxiety arrogant mothers at risk children attachment parenting baby care babysitting mom back to school bad friends bad mood bad mother beautiful children bipolar disorder bitter mothers blame blog creator blog for frustrated mothers blog for mothers blogs about kid stuff book about mothers borderline personality disorder boyfriend braggart mothers break up breast-feeding burdens burned out fathers burned out mothers business career mothers caretakers cars child abuse childbirth childcare childhood issues children children and bedtime children and disabilities children and school children and sports children going away to college children in jail children in war children who exaggerate childrens books Christmas blues christmas decorating co-parenting codependent cold mothers college scholarships college scholarships for mothers competitive mothers confused mothers conniving mothers controlling mothers controlling wives coupons crazy mom crisis nursery critical mothers crying over mother dating tips dating violence daycares dead mother death deceased babies deceased children deceased mother deceased mothers deceptive people defend children defensive mother dementia depressed mother depression discipline disrespected mothers divorce domestic violence donations education emotional abuse encouragement events evil influences expectant moms exs faith fake friendships family family friends family law fathers fathers don't want children fathers with children favoritism fearful mothers fears finances food forgiveness friends friendships frustrated daughters frustrated father frustrated mother frustrated mothers fun stuff to do with kids gift ideas gifted children God good days good mothers grandchildren grandmothers grandparents great grandmothers guilty mothers happy mothers holiday shopping holidays home income home organizing homemaker house house guests housing how to be a better grandparent how to be a better mother how to get exposure on this site humor husbands identity crisis ill mothers immature mothers independent woman infants inlaws insane mom intersex children intimacy jealous mothers jealousy journaling judgmental moms kidnapping lack of appreciation lazy family members lazy mothers letting go liars life lonely mothers makeovers male midlife manic mother manipulative media manipulative mothers marriage marriage and sex media menstrual cycle mental abuse mental mom mentally unstable relatives midlife crisis miscarriage miserable mothers mom guilt-trips mom quotes mommy invites mommy time mompreneur money morals mother mother and daughters mother cries mother daughter relationships mother dont want children mother in law mother pet peeves mother rants motherhood motherhood book motherhood lies motherhood pet peeves motherhood poems motherhood rap motherhood tips mothers mothers and sons mothers and stepmothers mothers day mothers day blues mothers day specials mothers intuition mothers who love too much mothers without children motivation movies music nail makeover narcissistic fathers narcissistic mothers neighborhood gossips new boyfriend new mothers new years eve newborn babies niave mothers no money for toys obesity obsessed moms others over 40 paranoia parent teacher conference parent-child bonding parental alienation parenting parenting adult children parenting challenges parenting girls parenting tips part-time mother passive emotionally unavailable mothers peace peer abuse perimenopause personal time petty mothers physical abuse pmdd experience politics postpartum blues postpartum depression postpartum symptoms poverty power prayer praying pregnancy product recommendations pushy teachers quotes from kids quotes from mom racism raising children raising sons rape rebellious children regrets relationships relatives remarriage resentful mothers role reversal safety tips save money say goodbye to dad saying goodbye to children scammers scared parents schizophrenia school breaks school vacations schools self esteem self improvement tips self love self righteous mothers selfish parents sensitive mothers separated from children sex sex trafficking sexual abuse shopping black friday shopping cyber monday shopping for children shopping for mother siblings single mothers single parenting single parents sister in law slave mothers sleep sneaky children sneaky mothers special offers spirituality spoiling children spouse spring break stay at home mothers step-mothers stepmothers stillborn baby strange mothers stressed mothers strict parents substance abuse successful mothering suffocating mothers suicide superstition support groups support groups for pittsburgh pa teen fathers teen mothers teen years television programming tell me mother you're sorry book temper tantrums the other woman thoughts about mom tips to good health tired moms toddlers toxic partners toys trauma traveling with children twins twitter unappreciated unhappy mother unlovedangry mother unsupportive partners vaccine injury video games weekends when mothers cry audio when mothers cry book when mothers cry change when mothers laugh widows witchcraft mom womans intuition work at home working mothers worry xmas young men dating older women young mothers your mother Youtube
Creative Commons License
When Mothers Cry by Nicholl McGuire is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on book by Nicholl McGuire, When Mothers Cry.

My Blog List

  • Today my son asked, “is there anyone here, obviously not you, mom, who is good at math?†Immediately, I took offense because we are in the middle of a p...
  • Join me for the 1st Motherhood & Words Writing Conference! The post 1st Annual Motherhood & Words® Writing Conference & 13th Annual Motherhood & Words® R...
  • *This reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product.* Head over to select Best Buy locations this Satu...
  • Brought to you by Zhena (of Zhena's Gypsy Teas) this is a wonderful subscription tea program where you can sign up, and a wonderful box is sent to you each...
  • Kersten Campbell's New Humor Book is being released in March 2015!
  • So I'm moving to D.C in a few weeks. They don't know what's going to hit them. It was a very easy decision for me. I was on a beach in South Carolina by my...
  • Yesterday the girls stopped by to practice their wiles on my sons.First they lolled on the couch, like puppies, legs and arms intertwined. Then Melissa mig...
  • Hi "Mother Load" readers- as of August 2011 I am now blogging at When Did I Get Like This? (whendidigetlikethis.com). Both of the "Mother Load" URLs (mot...
  • Dearest Mothers Acting Up Community: For years we’ve talked about creating a “magnificent revolution” led by mothers stepping into new public leadership ...
  • October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month By all means if you are breastfeeding and have a problem, a mammogram and ultrasound are compatible with breastfee...
  • Misgana has a cute little way of asking for something and then saying, "just a little bit." It has taken on a life of its own. Here she is... enjoy.
  • *Mothers Institute Days of the Week Themes* Our goal in creating our MI *Days of the Week* themes and correlating action items is twofold, to be 1) dire...
  • We, physically, have moved to Columbia, MD, but more pertinently, finally...yes finally (drum roll pls) my blog has moved to a new location! By the time yo...
  • When I was a nerdy lil thing some 50 years ago, I was madly in love with George Washington Carver. I imaged myself as Mrs. Terris Mae Washington Carver, c...
  • Welcome to Judys Motherhood Store Check out our Trendy Maternity & Nursing Wear from USA for you at the Right Price contact us : judysmotherhoodstore@gma...