It's not easy juggling work and family that's for sure.
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You can find yourself thinking you need to pick up nappies and make a Red Riding Hood cape for dress up day at school during a meeting and then find yourself thinking about that presentation you have to write when you should be playing tea parties with your little one. You can feel pulled in two directions and it's hard to know how to get a balance.
Here are our top 10 tips for creating a work life balance that works for you:
1 Organise childcare you're happy with.
If you're worrying about your child's health and happiness while you're at work, there's no way you'll be able to do your job properly. Find childcare that you and your child are happy with. If you're lucky enough to have a support network of family and/or friends living nearby, make an informal agreement that you can call on them to help if your child's ill.
2 Ignore the bad press
Don't bother reading pointless news stories based on ‘latest research' and blaming working mothers for damaging their child's health/intelligence/long-term prospects. It just piles on unecessary guilt. These are the two things that matter:you know why you're working and your children know you love them.
On a similar note, don't bother feeling envious of your friends who don't work. There are times when they'd probably gladly swap places with you. Just think, you don't have to watch 'In the Night Garden' every day!
3 Don't do everything yourself
They say 'women can have it all' but in reality you'll just fall over if it's down to you to keep all the plates spinning and do everything yourself. Get help - from your partner, your family, the in-laws...Put systems in place to get everyone in the house to help. Even very small children can take their plates from the table and put them in the dishwasher, for example. And ask for help too. Don't try to be superwoman.
4 Get organised
Leave as little as possible to the manic mornings: pack yours and your children's bags and get children's clothes and your own clothes ready the night before. Buy enough school clothes and children's socks and underwear so you're not a slave to the washing machine every evening. Have a 'grab and go ' place in the hall for keys, purse and all the things you need. Oh - and if your children are school age tip out their bags each evening to check for any letters they have forgotten to give you so you don't end up baking cakes for the cake stall the next morning at midnight or hurtling round at dawn trying to find a lost trainer as their gym days have been changed.
5 Give yourself a break
You can only do what you can do. Be kind to yourself and don't be too hard on yourself. It doesn't matter if your home's not immaculate and your children aren't fed super-nutritious, cooked-from-scratch food every day. There will be days when you feel guilty and wish you could be the parent helper on the school trip when you had to work and equally there will be days when you feel guilty as you were knackered after a night with a poorly child and didn't feel you gave it your all at work. That's just life. It happens to us all. Don't beat yourself up about it.
6 Shop for food online
Plan a weekly menu then shop online. Saves on so much time and hassle.
"Home delivery of food shopping is a GODSEND!! I sit and click in my PJs at 8pm on a Tuesday night, and up turns my shopping on a Friday night at about 7pm when I've had it for the week and just want a nice fridge full of food to appear."
7 Sort all your finances online
Remembering to pay home bills is the one important thing that can easily slip to the bottom of your to-do list. Set them all up in advance so it's one less thing to worry about. Sort out as much as you can through online banking and direct debits so you have less paper work to wade through.
8 Try to draw a clear line between work time and family time
Work when you're at work and be there as a mummy when you are at home. It's really hard with smartphones and emails pinging into your inbox after hours but be strict with yourself and try to make a clear line between the two roles. If you're rushing to the school gates, childminder or nursery in the mornings try and give yourself a few minutes breathing space before you have to switch into mum mode. And on the way home after a busy work day do the same again. Take a moment before you turn the key in the door and go back to being mummy again. Oh - and make the most of weekends and holidays for family time. Switch off from work and cherish those times. They go by so fast after all.
9 Don't let yourself always come last
You're important, so make yourself a priority. It's not selfishness, it's self-preservation. Whether it's sitting down to watch Eastenders, going out with the girls or simply having time for a long soak in the bath, make sure you factor in time for yourself and the things you enjoy. This is especially important at weekends when you may feel tempted to catch up on all the jobs you've fallen behind with during the week, between time spent ferrying children to parties and classes or seeing relatives you feel you should.
10 Cherish the good things about working
Apart from the money which pays the bills, hold onto the great things about your working day. It could be something as simple and everyday as having a good laugh with work mates, drinking a coffee without having a small child clamouring to eat the chocolate on top, having your boss praise you or simply having five minutes to read your book on the train. Similarly take time to hold onto the most magical parts of being a mummy too. There is room for both if you make it work.
