9 Tips For Working Mums To Attain A Balance Lifestyle

Having a work-life balance is pretty crucial to everyone since it helps to promote overall happiness, health and quality living. Some find it hard to unplug from work commitment, which can build up stress over time, harm your relationships, erode your health and also your happiness. However, work-life balance has always been a difficult thing to achieve in this busy modern day and age lifestyle. As we work more from home during the pandemic in the past 2 years, it can be an impossible feat for many mothers to separate work from family life. Also, we cannot seem to unplug ourselves from work due to all the “convenient” technologies around. Imagine you are having dinner with your family, and then your work just happens to get in the way, via a Teams message or call from your phone. It is most likely that you cannot simply ignore it. They probably come in as an urgent matter and need to be answered right away.  As a working mother, I have been through a lot of hard times, striving to achieve a work-life balance. Over a period of time, I find it to be a journey where you gradually learn things along the way and have to constantly re-adjust your plan. I learnt that there is no such thing as a perfect formula for work-life balance, as it means different things for different folks, but I am now definitely living a more fulfilling and rewarding life than before. As we spring into the new year, I would like to share with you tips that can help you to find the new perfect work-life balance for the new year.

1.    Set priorities and realistic goals

As working parents, you have many roles and responsibilities to fulfill. They often run into conflict with each other, leaving you little time and energy. Think about your values and what is most important to you right now, then decide to spend your time accordingly. Be it you want a healthy couple relationship, be an involved parent, or simply getting into shape. It is great that you always strive to be a better version of yourself, but be realistic with your goal. Let go of perfectionism and develop a plan that works. It’s a common beginner mistake for people to still try to be everything to everyone all at once, by setting unrealistic goals, leaving only a little margin for error and comfort. They often will quickly find themselves feeling stuck, tired and worn out again, running low on motivation to change. It’s counterintuitive to why we need priorities in the first place. It is advisable that you leave some time for yourself and focus only on what you really need the most, you will find a comfortable start.

2. Plan things in advance

I can’t stress enough its importance. It’s amazing how just a bit of planning can help us go a long way. Making a list of things before the start of every week can really help you see what needs to be done and organize them in an efficient manner. Enlist your partner and older child into the plan, not only they can help you out with chores but it’s also a great bonding opportunity for the family. As you start to get a hang of it, making subsequent plans will be a breeze and the week will go by more smoothly. You may find things will generally become more balanced out and more time for yourself.

3. Negotiate flex hours/ part-time hours if possible

Consider flexible work time as it can free up a big chunk of your time to take care of your household and is also a stress reliever leading to a better quality of life. These days, most companies recognise the struggle their staff face trying to juggle household duties with work. Don’t hesitate to make a proposal to your boss. If you have brainstormed and come up with viable solutions, you are more likely to gain flexible work. Take a close look at your daily, working schedule and family commitment. It’s fair to negotiate for longer hours on certain days and shorter hours on others, or perhaps an earlier daily start for an earlier leave, allowing one of the parents to pick the kids up on time after school and prepare dinner, while the other can do the dropping off every morning. Most organisations will be open to flexible arrangements these days as we can see through the past 2 years where most of us had to work from home for most of the time.

4. Limit after work involvement

After work involvement can take up a large chunk of your time so keep an eye on those activities. Choose to devote quality time to high-priority people and activities that actually reward you the most. You probably don’t need to volunteer for your workplace’s fundraising charity or sit on the local church committee. It is wonderful to contribute to your community, but be mindful of your time resources as you may not be able to do it all given your circumstances. You can instead choose to free up those times to focus more on yourself and a better quality of life. For young working parents this day and age, excessive TVs, email, internet surfing’s can also add up to a lot of time wasted. Limit time-wasting activities and people. Again, you should look to your values, set your priorities and draw a firm boundary for yourself.

5. Take time for yourself

As busy as your schedule may sound, it is always advisable to take more time for yourself for resting, healing and taking up productive hobbies. This not only will act as a great stress reliever but can significantly transform you physically and mentally for the better. Taking up healthy hobbies and activities such as yoga and pilates that will improve your mood, health, physique, and relationship with others, contributing to a more positive outlook and quality of life.onsider joining a fitness class or pursuing a sport that you may have a passion for. For the busier mothers out there, consider yoga or meditation as their benefits are scientifically proven to be paramount. I would suggest meditation as an easy and fastest route to self-betterment and realization, even as little as a daily 5 minutes meditation routine can literally transform your life with countless successful professionals, artists and entrepreneurs have sworn by as examples. You can learn more about the benefits of meditation here in our Naturely blog “Meditation – Free Yourself From StressHow To Start Practising Mindfulness As A Beginner?

6. Get House Help and Order online

I don’t really like doing house chores but don’t feel comfortable when someone comes to our house and does that for us. However, I have to accept that I am not a superwoman and cannot do everything by myself. So, I started getting help from others. I used services like Urban You and Airtasker and Gumtree to find local cleaners.

Another way to save time is to order food and grocery online. Delivery apps such as Uber Eats, Door Dash are our friends for occasional takeaway meals. For weekly grocery shopping, you can do it online with many sites now like Woolworths, Coles and Costco.

7. Build quality family time

Try to get your children involved with whatever you are doing and help you out with chores as much as possible. Not only is it a great opportunity for family bonding, but the kids will also learn basic but important life skills and responsibilities along the way while having some fun for themselves. You can set a dedicated schedule to ensure that family time happens. Establish a family movie or games night. Plan for fun learning activities like a baking lesson on the weekend. Emphasize mealtime as an important family daily ritual when you sit down together for dinner and take turns sharing the day’s events. These routines will build up rhythm, love, shared responsibility and more structure for your family.

8.  Make room for couple time

Don’t forget that you are not only a parent but also a spouse. Having family time doesn’t mean that you should not spend private time with your partner. Marriage is something you shouldn’t overlook, your partner also needs you as much as your children need you. It doesn’t need much but a surprise dinner or occasional warm gestures to heat it up again.

9. Don’t miss out on special moments

Some special moments in our lives always have a great impact on who we are, and your kids and family are no exceptions. Your family member’s birthdays, your anniversary, an important play or sports event or their graduation. These can be life-defining moments not only for them but for you. Make sure you remember and be there for your family.

Finally, these tips are just my personal preference that I found useful. You may want to tailor it to suit yourself better. If you find these above tips helpful, want to share a tip or have a topic you want us to write more about, you can email us or leave a comment down below.