The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Working Mothers

When you are working through university or in the early years of your career, your life can feel pressure packed and often a little overwhelming. Fast forward through maternity and you'll have a good idea of what "overwhelming" really feels like, as you try to balance motherhood with your career aspirations. Working mums face an unenviable challenge, as they have to strive for efficiencies in so many aspects of their daily lives. They have to be able to balance their career with what their clients, bosses and fellow workers expect of them along with the considerable challenge of raising a happy family. Little wonder that many working mums in this situation have to leverage their career for the family or vice versa.
There are certain traits that all highly effective working mums share. They have taken a step back and observed themselves with a "wide angle lens" to help them get a different perspective on their challenges and put a plan in place. Here are the seven habits that we've noticed that highly effective working mums practice. As a working mum, you can make use of services that provide professional coaching for women to take you from overwhelm to "whelm" and build a support and accountability structure.
Habit 1 - Learn and practice time management: There are only 24 hours in the day, but we need many more. Unless you know of any plan to change this soon, you're going to have to make do with the 24, like everybody else! We hear during professional coaching sessions, seminars and talk shows that, one of the main habits of highly effective people is good time management, and this is goal number one for the working mum. Sit down in a quiet room with several sheets of paper and analyze all your responsibilities. This means everything! Write down how long each task or role takes you, and when you have finished add it all up. Your next job is to realistically condense it all into a manageable timeframe, giving you adequate time for each. Once you have your time management plan in place, you must stick to it like glue.
Habit 2 - Set your routine: It's important to have some sort of routine. Some of us don't like to be structured in this way, but if you are to become a highly efficient working mum you must do so. If you take one step at a time, complex tasks often feel a lot easier and this is definitely the case here. Turn away from that feeling of being overwhelmed and put one foot in front of the other. Establish a routine, which may take a couple of weeks to do, but once you have done so, your day should be a whole lot easier.
Habit 3 – Focus: Know that procrastination can be the enemy of efficiency. You have to avoid distractions. Hopefully, as part of your time management plan, you will have allocated a small amount of time per day or per week for things that you could classify as "other." Don't expand this time unnecessarily and don't be tempted to run off for a quick lunch with a colleague/friend/ neighbour, unless it has already been built into your time management schedule, of course!
Habit 4 - Develop your productive space: Whilst you may be quite productive if you work away from home or at the office, if you are a work from home mum you had better ensure that your working space is very productive, comfortable and remote. Try your best to utilise a room which is not used for any other purpose, which can be closed off if needed, and try not to use your work computer for any leisure purposes. Work at home mums have to be even stricter about their time management, as there are so many other distractions around them.
Habit 5 - Don't forget your fitness: All the planning in the world is no good if you find that you're getting more and more "rundown", and you find that you don't have the energy necessary to undertake your daily life. When you're planning your time management, allow for daily exercise routines. Go for a walk or run, dance around the house or get your bicycle out and go for a ride; either way this time cannot be compromised. Look at it as "fuel" for all the rest of your day.
Habit 6 - Maintain a support group: While you may know who to turn to at work for help should you need it, sometimes you just need support and help in the act of life itself. If you know someone else who is in a similar position, then you can support each other. Gather together as many trusted friends and/or relatives as you can, and don't be afraid to lean on them during the times when it can all seem to get too much. Professional coaching may also provide the support you really need in this time of your life.
Habit 7 - Reward yourself: Remember that you need to look after yourself first, and while you're doing a great job of balancing your career with motherhood, there must be some time for yourself. What do you really love to do? Whatever it is, plan "good time" for yourself in your schedule. In this way, if things get particularly challenging for some reason, you will have something to look forward to. It is so important to acknowledge yourself - you're not an automaton - even working mums need a reward!