I confess I am a workaholic who fiercely loves her family. I struggle to find the balance between all of this and though it’s really hard it also a lot of FUN! I am brutally honest about this adventure we call being a working mom & through my honesty I hope to empower and inspire women to believe that they can do this.
“Motherhood is not the end of your Identity”
I am a Fashion professional by the nature of my job & General Manager Design & Marketing by designation. I work for a Bombay based export house and deal with clients like zara, oysho, Mango, Next, urban outfitters. In the past i had worked for brands like H&M, river island, top-shop and Masimo dutti to name a few.My job involves extensive travel around the globe for presentations & meetings. People who know me ,Know my jet setter life before becoming a MAMA.
I love my job & love my travels, it gives me a perspective to live life differently. Experiencing multi culture on my work trips definitely changed my horizon to a lot of things. Also it is so much self empowering to go out their in the world and make your mark.
I had my SONshine with great difficulty & a lot of wait but the wait was worth it. I love him more then words but at the same time i cant give up on my identity, And work is a very important part of me. Working full time & raising a tiny human sounds like a lotof work right!?! So the question is how do i do it?
“I think every working mom probably feels the same thing: You go through big chunks of time where you’re just thinking, ‘This is impossible — oh, this is impossible.’ And then you just keep going and keep going, and you sort of do the impossible.”Tina Fey
Do i spend enough time with my son ? Am i part of his daily happenings ? How do i take care of him while being at work?
And the Answer to this is – I strike a balance, and have best of both worlds. Here are 10 ways, how i strike a work-life balance –
- Let go off the guilt – Rather than dwell on how you’re not with your child, think about how your role of being a Working mom is benefiting the family. Your reason to work may be any, to provide a bright future for your children , help support your family status or elevating & developing self as an individual. Bright side is, in the end you are raising an independent kid.
- A Reliable care giver – If you live in a joint family with your in laws and parents around then you are sorted, but its a real problem in nuclear family. If you are a nuclear family then its important to figure out a reliable care giver, A nanny who can take care of your child in your absence. There are a lot of professional agencies these days , Where security is not a big problem and they provide trained professionals. You can opt for someone living with you or some one who comes for 12 hrs.
- A creche’ – If you are unable to find one suitable & trustworthy care taker at home then creche is answer to your problem. There are many state of the art creches/day care, who provide all the amenities that will keep your child safe & entertained. There will be some challenges like kids catching infection frequently, but that will happen when ever your kid will start going out, be it creche a play school or school for that matter. Its better they get use to it from an early age.
- CCTV Cameras – It has been a blessing for me. I have got CCTV cameras installed in all rooms of my house and i can see my son live on my phone on my laptops. It ensures his safety and i get to see my curly cuddly running around & playing around the house 🙂 You can login from any part of the world all you need is a data connectivity or Wifi. Also keep calling time to time checking one your kid.
- Support from work – It is very important to get some kind of flexibility & support from your work place. I have some credibility after working for so many years and with my past performances my employer has been kind to be flexible with me. All employers need to understand a woman has many roles to play in her life so be vocal with you employer to be flexible with you and figure out a working model where neither you nor them are affected.
- Spend quality time with your child – Above i have stated the logistics of making arrangements to keep your baby safe while you are at work. Now lets talk about making time for your baby.You need to design your day in such a way that you get to spend quality time with your kid so you don’t go on to the guilt ride. And honestly i wont be able to do this if i don’t have support from work. I prefer going late & coming late rather hustling in the morning & come tired home & not spending quality time with your child. So mornings are for him. I wake up anytime between 7-7:30 am. so an hr work out, or go for runs or just do stretches at home with or without my son. From 8:30 to 10:30 I give uninterrupted time to my son. We indulge into various activities , eat breakfast together, i make sure to feed him breakfast because then for other meals i am not around. I oil his hair, brush his teeth, do these little things , bath him and then in half hr get ready and leave for work. During evening i am back by 8-8:30 pm and then literally bath in 5 mins and then dinner in 5 mins and its time for his Nanny to go. From 9 to 10:30 – 11 pm is our time again. our routine is, some active play, then reading a book and sleep.
- Create an activity/meal, chart– Make a chart for full week during weekends about his meals( breakie, lunch, evening snack, dinner, milk & quantity), medicines (if any). Time table for the whole day mentioning meals, nap time, play time etc.Or if you are sending your kids to a creche make notes in a book and hand it over to the concerned person there.
- Organise yourself – Make sure to pack yours & your kids bags a previous night.Purses, work bags, baby bags/school bags. Remove what to wear in the night for next day both for you & your kid. When you are at work, try & work smarter, without wasting time, not telling you to interact with your peers ( its one of the most important thing to be a successful manager) But casual internet surfing gossiping & long lunches etc eats time. You rather utilise that time and work efficiently and wind up on time for the day to go back to your baby.
- Me time – Most importantly do not forget to focus on the golden Me time hr. Remove that one hr every day where you only focus on your self. It could be reading, running, working out, listening to music, painting or perhaps watch your favourite show. Remember you can’t serve your family if you will be irritated, frustrated. So make sure to rejuvenate your self everyday to get clarity of thoughts which will help you function better.
- Delegate responsibility to your spouse – Don’t try to take everything on you, Delegate some responsibility to your spouse, eg: if you are getting late at work or have a work travel coming up, communicate with your husband to be around when you are not. Let your husband take care of your child when he wakes up during the night or early morning, so you catch on some sleep.
Hope you found this read helpful, Would love to know your thoughts in comments below.
Love
Sakshi
The Uptown Mommy 