Management Tips for Working Mothers

I have learnt this by experience, and mentioned below are a few tips that can help you plan out your day in a more effective manner. As mothers and especially as working mothers, we struggle to get some ME time. Well, honestly, it takes a back seat because we want everything else to be in perfect place and shape. But it is essential at the end of the day because happiness and a happy home begin with you. To find this time and dedicate it to your fitness regime, a few things can improve efficiency.

1. Make it a habit to get up early. This can be an issue when your kids are too young because they might not sleep through the night at times. But it would help if you got them into a routine first so that they sleep throughout the night, and so do you. So, to begin with, don’t let them sleep for longer hours during the day. A one-hour nap in the afternoon is good enough.

Incorporate a lot of playtime in the evening post your office hours. This will help you spend some quality time with the kids and make them sufficiently tired for good night sleep. You can indulge in some water play as well during the summer season. Feed them dinner early, say at 7:30-8 pm and then give them some warm milk/sooji kheer at bedtime. This keeps them full for longer, and they can sleep without hunger pangs bothering them.

Once your kids get into a routine of sleeping throughout the night, you will also be able to complete your eight hours of sleep and get up on time, all powered up for the next day.

2. Don’t spend time on phone / social networking during the early hours of the day. It has almost become a habit for all of us these days that we use social networking sites early in the morning while having our first cup of tea. We don’t realise, but this does make us lose out on a lot of time.

3. On weekends, plan your outfits for the week. Even though you work from home, there are still days when you have video calls and need to prepare to manage your workwear on weekends. Sort the kids’ uniforms on weekends, too, so all laundry and ironing may be done.

4. Make a week’s worth of food plans. A typical breakfast may not be appropriate for children. They require diversity, which is also healthy. So if they have a different breakfast every day, they consume it much faster than if it’s the same thing every day. Plan your menu for the week on the weekend; this saves time on the weekdays. This also helps you make sure you have everything you need for the week in your pantry well in advance rather than last moment hustle-bustle.

5. You can also chop a few vegetables and store them in the fridge when you plan your menu. The same can be done with leafy vegetables; you can clean them and keep them to reduce your cooking time. You can also make onion, tomato, ginger paste, roast it and freeze it as this is an essential ingredient for many dishes.

6. If your child attends online classes and gets a weekly or a monthly planner, sort out things needed for the course well in advance for a few days rather than doing this daily and rushing to the market to get stuff.

7. Get your children into a habit of taking a bath and getting ready early in the morning so that all of you are ready before the start of the workday. This also helps them in having their breakfast well.

8. Do 15 minutes of meditation before going to bed or anytime during the day. It’s vital for your mental wellbeing.

9. Seek your partner help wherever possible. It is essential to ask for help and make it a part of your lifestyle. When both partners share work and responsibility, things become accessible for everyone, but at times men don’t realise the tasks they can help with, so fix a few tasks that they can take up, like dressing the kids up in the morning. If your kids are young and need someone to sit with them during online classes, your partner can sit in one class, and you can sit in one. This also makes the child happy and secure because he finds the involvement of both parents, and it’s good for his emotional wellbeing.

Taking some time out for yourself each day, will help you make a very healthy relationship with someone very important-YOU!

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