Four Ways to Balance Work and Motherhood

Being a working mother is one of the toughest things you could do. Balancing the time you can see your kids and the time you have to be at the office can cause a lot of headaches. According to the US Department of Labor, 70 percent of women who have children under eighteen years of age are employed in the workforce. They work to help provide a living for their child, but if you are one of these women, it’s likely not easy.

Don’t worry. There are ways you can do both and find balance between the two:

1.) Create a Schedule. A job always takes up the majority of your day. However, you might be given time off for lunch, or go home in the evening. You might have time in the morning before you go into the office. Use those small moments to spend time with your child. There are ways you can spend time with your child before the weekend arrives, when you hopefully have a little more time to see them.

2.) Hire a Nanny. The thought of having someone look after your child is another tough idea to swallow. However, nannies can be very helpful to a working mother, especially if they do not have the time to take care of their child twenty-four hours a day. This allows them to have some help in driving the child around, or preparing meals for them. If you can afford to have a nanny financially, it may be a good deal of weight taken off your shoulders.

3.) Think About Daycare. If you do not want a nanny looking after your child, the next best solution could be a daycare service. You may wish to inquire with your child’s school about the daycare or latchkey options available. You might prefer this option because you trust the school, its faculty, and staff. If you trust them more than a nanny you would have to spend time getting to know, choose this option. Your child might make some great friends in daycare too.

4.) Try Finding a Remote Job. In the modern digital world, the workplace has changed a great deal. Many people are working from home these days. According to the Telework Research Network study back in 2013, they predicted the thirty million Americans that work at home to grow sixty-three percent over the next five years. This type of job allows you to do work while being at home. So you can still do all the things you need to for your child and spend time with them. The same study finds forty-seven percent of those people working from home “very satisfied” with doing so. This can create a better work-life balance.

While life can be quite demanding, finding ways to create balance between your two responsibilities of working and being a parent can relieve your mind of a lot of stress. If you follow a few of these steps, you could discover how much more you might accomplish by not worrying.

About the author: Tommy Zimmer is a writer whose work has appeared online and in print. His work covers a variety of topics, including politics, economics, health and wellness, addiction and recovery and the entertainment industry.

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