I refuse to subscribe to the narrative that being a working mom means being less available for your little one OR less available for your career. I want to go on record in saying we women CAN maintain thriving careers and raise our babies. There’s just a few tips I’ve learned for working moms that we all should know.
It is absolutely possible to do all the things… but what I’ve learned these past 11 months is, we just can’t do the things how we’ve always done them.
And prior to figuring this out, that feeling of being stretched-thin was an all-too-familiar sensation that it seems most working mama’s just live with.
These past few months I feel like I’ve really developed my own work/life balancing muscles. There’s definitely room for some more gains, but I have to say, my progress makes me proud.
“Pre-Tati,” time management was NOT one of my better qualities. But now with this little one in the mix, time management isn’t a “nice-to-have,” it is a “NEED-to-have.” And these tips for working moms have been game changing!
Weekdays, now consist of waking up bright and early before Tati around 6 AM. Maybe I’ll get a workout in, then get her and I ready starting at 7 AM, then out the door by 8 am.
Drop her off. Get to the office by 9 AM, and then pretty much go non-stop until I get home by 6, just in time to feed her dinner, and get her down for the night.
By 8 PM I am usually JUST coming up for air for the first time all day. I might eat dinner with Trav, might have more work to crank out, maybe a workout… or maybe I just need to sit the heck down.
Sound familiar, anyone??
And we haven’t even touched on marriage, social life, or really even self-care yet, so the stretch-ability is practically Guinness World Record Status.
That said, I know I’m not alone. And I also know that several of you on Instagram have shared DM’s with me about loving to see how I balance career with family and make time for both.
I want to go on record in saying we women CAN maintain thriving careers and raise our babies. We just have to be intentional about it.
So I did some research, and it turns out they don’t give away a Nobel Prize for doing everything yourself. As a working mom, delegation is key, not just at work but especially at home. And I’m not just talking about tasks or duties with your partner or family.
One of the BEST decisions I’ve made so far (if I do say so myself), is the decision to have Tati’s food provided by Yumi.
Yumi is a freshly made, organic, and delivered to your door delivery service that shows up every week. Plus, all the meals were created by pediatricians and nutritionists to ensure each stage of foods being introduced are catered to your babies development milestones.
This saves me literal hours of time. The variety I’ve been able to introduce Tati to is FAR beyond the variety she’d have if I were to shop, and prep all of her food myself.
We’ve been on the one meal per day plan since Tati was cleared to start solids at 4 months old. So while I’ve always supplemented Yumi with other things, I have never had to worry about dealing with cleaning, steaming, cooking, peeling, or pureeing any vegetables, or lentils.
Game Changer.
This might not be as necessary to everyone, but I have always really prioritized putting myself together. And statistically speaking here, most women use an average of 12 beauty products a day, so I know I’m not alone.
Now that I have two of us to get out the door every morning, I have to be really smart about my routine, not just from a timing perspective, but Tati is fascinated by makeup and wants to hold/taste/eat everything!
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Minimizing my routine means more efficiency for me, and less potential hazards for her. (LOL)
Speaking of hazards, when Tati started not only being INTERESTED in my makeup but interested in TASTING it… it was a HUGE wakeup call for me as to what she could get into even when I’m not looking… and the chemicals and ingredients in most brands are SCARY.
So I went to Credo Beauty for an entire clean beauty swap. They look at your makeup bag, and then recommend a comparable clean alternative to anything toxic or unnatural.
And to be honest, I love my makeup more NOW than before. Literally do not miss a single old product, and they are all clean, good for the environment, recyclable packaging, and SO DAMN GOOD.
I went from having DRAWERS full of products to one tiny makeup bag of everything I need. I use max 2 makeup brushes on a normal day. And I get the whole thing done (even with Tati getting into everything on my lap) in less than 10 minutes.
So moral of the story – streamline – and switch to clean!
While on the self-care topic, I am still working on getting the last of my baby weight off from the pregnancy (I’ve lost 60 pounds since having Tati, high-five, go me).
At first, I really wanted to lose weight like I did before Tati. I’d carve out an hour and a half to get it all done, probably at a gym.
And I quickly realized that expecting to be able to do things like I did them before having a baby just wasn’t realistic.
My final tip for working moms is instead of expecting to get a solid hour, for instance, I’ve found it a LOT easier to find 3 20-minute windows to get in some high-intensity workouts.
I love my Sweat App subscription and my Peloton Digital Subscription because they’re both LOADED with 10, 15, and 20 minute workouts that I can choose to squeeze in my quick sessions in the morning and evening.
Sometimes I find the energy to dedicate to a solid hour, and when I do, that’s great, and there’s longer workouts available in the apps too.
But releasing the expectation (and excuse) that a solid hour is what’s required of me to make my health a priority has changed everything.
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Let me know if one of these tips for working moms PARTICULARLY resonates with you! Do you have a different time-saving tip for working moms out here? Drop it in the comments below!
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