6 ways to juggle mum life while working for home

We are in an incredible time where the internet has opened up the possibility for mothers to earn an income while being at home. There is a phrase from the generation about me – you can’t have it all. But more and more we are seeing mothers jump into the challenge of juggling their own business while raising a family.

I have three young boys (8, 6 and 2) and a little baby girl on the way. They have been home with me their whole young life, and I have been able to kiss them on the head while I design something cool. I know I’m lucky, but its not an impossible dream – its something you can have too with a bit of planning and a lot of persistence. Here are my 6 ways to juggle mum life while working from home.

Delete the mum guilt

The first thing you are going to need is a positive mind set. Did you know its actually ok to have a great career that you love, and be an incredible mother at the same time? Who would have known. You are capable of so much, as women we have an incredible ability to multitask and we think in multiple lanes as we travel through life. It actually means you have the ability to be more than one thing. Replace the feeling of guilt with a sense of pride you can provide for your family as that’s important too. Balance and boundaries are everything – if you have that guilt make yourself a cup of tea and plan out the life you want down to what an average day looks like. Figure out what boundaries are going to make you happy, and aim to towards a life that looks like this.

Set yourself up a beautiful workspace

Woman in generally tend to be more visual than men – it’s why we are so darn good at styling a house, planning a wedding or showing up for a meeting looking like a schmik boss. Your workspace should be no different – plan it out and make it stunning because you deserve no less. Inspired yourself with an organised, beautiful space and the good work and clarity of mind will come.

Ask for help

You don’t have to go this alone. If you need help, please ask for it. You don’t have to do everything by yourself, alone, all the time – that’s just going to lead to stress and burnout. I’m very lucky (and I know it) as I have an incredible husband who also works from home in our business and who shares the load – we juggle the kids and the jobs and the school runs between us. But we need to communicate with each other, and actually ask for help when we need it. It took me a while to learn this – no one is a mind reader – open lines of communication are key to a functioning household. And it doesn’t have to be a hubby – if you need it call on the people who love you – family & friends. Communicate where you are struggling and see if they can help.

Reflect on what is important to you

One thing I know is that working from home with little ones can turn to chaos pretty quickly. And if you are trying to get something done, it can be a challenge to focus, and easy to get frustrated. It can also be easy to lose perspective on how awesome it is you have them home and where your priorities lie. So stop for a minute, and bask in the achievement of what you have done. Take a deep breath and realize you are a mum, working from home, while raising your beautiful children. No one said it would be easy and you don’t have to do everything perfectly, but you are one of the luck ones.

Be an organisational master

Little kids make mess, and these days there are a million and one things to remember with school, kinder, prekinder. I’m definitely not perfect, but the only way we manage to keep our heads above water is staying organised. Figure out what works for you and stick to it. I love using Trello and time blocking – they are my supertools which I can’t function without. I have a board which is just for home stuff – it has the calendar activated so we can see what’s coming up and I add it to my weekly board so anything important isn’t overlooked. I also love to shop online and click & collect our shopping – this saves heaps of time and is also fantastic for meal planning.

Calm the chaos with timeblocking

My best days are the days where I have everything from the start of the day timeblocked all the way to when I go to sleep. Life happens, school runs happen, karate happens and so do swimming lessons. Give yourself the time to get it done and be kind to yourself. Then when you start to feel that overwhelm about a deadline setting in, you can just look at your timeblocking grid, see where you have delegate time for that specific task and take a breath out knowing it will get done, because you got this.

In conclusion

If you are reading this, you are a mum (or dad) who works (or wants to work from home). And I have ultimate respect for you. Be proud, be organised and stay focused. These days you can have your cake, and eat it too.