How to maintain Work-life Balance – for the real moms !
Motherhood is indeed a balancing act, but you are not expected to do it all alone.
All mothers are created in a way that they have an expertise in multi-tasking and ensure that they excel in every sphere of life. However one can do it without getting stressed up and by constantly following few tricks and strategies. Moreover , if you are a working mother, indubitably you are expected to get appreciated and do wonders , both at work and home.
The biggest fear and an unavoidable challenge for all working mothers is how to beautifully maintain a work-home balance. With my own personal experience, I believe that certain strategies, when effectively implemented, can go a long way to help us.
- Planning is always imperative – Mothers are not robots or superhumans with 10 hands, but they do work in a manner as if they are! Every single day can be well-planned in advance, which would further lessen the chances of missing on the important events, meetings, appointments or other daily chores. The habit of making a ‘to-do-list’ can be innumerably helpful in finishing the tasks. Plan your day’s activities in a manner, which would provide you with sufficient time for yourself by the end of the day, and which can be substantially utilized with the loved ones.
- Make time for each child – We, the mothers, get so stuck up with our monotonous schedule and become a part of the rat race that we totally forget to spend quality time with each of our kids. Majority of us have 2 kids, or may be one. Make sure that each kid gets to have his/ her personal time and attention on daily basis. I have been constantly complaining that I do not have any Me Time, as the entire day, I am occupied with one or the chores. But lately I have realized that cribbing and complaining is much easier than planning and then executing the plans. A smart and simple way of doing so is to fix up a schedule by creating a time-table for each one of the kids. Encourage your kids to religiously follow it and set the right example by yourself sticking to it, come what may. When I say this, I do not mean that apart from the designated time, you should not spend time with your children. It clearly implies that no matter what, this particular time-slot should be exclusively used to interact with one particular child, while the other one can be rightly engrossed in some other activity. Often, we pay more attention and time with the younger ones as they tend to cling more, are more dependent, demanding and are more fussy. By default, the elder sibling feels neglected and yearns for attention of the parents. Not getting the required amount of time, love and attention is quite disheartening for them and they start getting envious. So, for maintaining harmony and peace at home , and to avoid sibling rivalry, make sure that all your kids get justified love, time and attention, no matter how busy your routine is .
- Stop cribbing about paucity of time – Time is a luxury that not everyone can afford. While you decided yourself that you wish to have and identity of your own, to be self-dependent in all aspects, to be a confident person who can reach for the stars , you are not at all allowed to crib , once you get stuck up with challenges and hardships associated with working. The best excuse, which we are frequently and customarily using is the paucity of time. I do not feel ashamed to admit that even I have been using this excuse quite often and my friends are also of the same opinion that we should have 48 hours in a day ! For not accomplishing any targets, for not having a proper daily routine, for not socializing, for not following a strict diet pattern, for not spending quality time with kids, for not giving time to our own selves, for not learning a new form of art and many more, we simply use the silliest excuse that we do not have time. Time will never be there, it is our daily schedule that needs to be structured in a manner that we sleep well at the end of the day, without cribbing and without any grudges.
- Focus on one aspect at a time – You are not here in a competition with anyone. You do not exist to impress the world, so there’s no rush to excel in everything you do and to get an A+ always. Try to be satisfied with the Bs also. It happened with me that one fine day, I had a strong desire to learn guitar, as we had owned it for quite some time, but I wickedly used my old excuse of not having time and never learnt it. Later in the evening, the same day, I wanted to be an artist and actually started making a sketch. To my utter shock and surprise, I did a wonderful job and was appreciated by all my loved ones, but somewhere the urge to learn guitar could not be suppressed. The purpose of sharing this personal experience is just to focus on the fact we, the superhumans ( mothers ) , need to concentrate on the work at hand , prioritizing and gradually excelling. Why to unnecessarily stress ourselves to just be an inevitable part of the rat race? Stand out and live life, even if it is only you who is doing so.
- Your house is your home , not a five-star hotel – I know many of you will be able to relate to this notion. We all have had our bouts of anxiety and panic when someone is visiting us. The first thing we do is to freakishly clean up every nook and corner, so that everyone is indubitably impressed by our immaculateness and the aesthetic sense that we possess ! Its okay to live in a place which is comfortable enough and provides you the basic luxuries and comforts. While you are a working mother, do not fret to impress people by the spruceness. This time can be better utilized by spending it with your hubby and kids. When I say so, I do not have any intentions to mean that living in an untidy place is one of the best experiences!
- Train your kids to be independent – Right from an early age, we need to encourage our kids to be independent. Let the children discover their own learning styles for various chores. Do not curb their individuality by forcing them to work in the conventional manner. Assign your kids, separate tasks, as per their age and appreciate them on the accomplishment of the same. Boost up their morale on every single stage and enjoy their failures too. After all, that is how we all learn and evolve! Do not forget to increase the level of difficulty as they grow. This way you will wind up the tasks faster, may be always not in the best possible manner, but it surely will give you more time for your loved ones. Moreover, while our children work with us, there is a constant increase in the bonding, love and affection.
- Make time for your husband too – One of the inexorable challenges for a working mother is the dearth of time for the poor husband. Most of the wives are either cooking, shopping, or teaching while the poor husband arrives home and is left to just stay glued to the television or the smart phone. Some time needs to be taken out for your husband and he should look forward to spend this special time with you, while the kids should be left busy eating or playing or winding up and gearing up for the next eventful day .The husband should also understand the plight of the poor wife who has been on her toes throughout the day. Please accept the fact that working mothers are no superhumans or superwomen and if they miss doing something, the husband and kids should not get disappointed !
ENJOY WOMANHOOD ! 'COS WE ARE THE FORTUNATE ONES :)