As more and more professionals embrace remote work as their preferred long-term career path, many moms are discovering the unique rewards (and challenges!) of juggling motherhood with their careers from home, full time. The flexibility of working from home has encouraged more of us working moms to take this route, with its obvious benefits of being able to find the time daily for professionalism and family simultaneously.
This balancing act, however, offers its own obstacles as well as opportunities. One in particular is working from home when the kids are home on summer break.
As a best-selling author, podcaster, and full-time ad agency CEO, I'd like to share my tips for success as I navigate year three of remote working my way around the world. From Dubai, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, I have a set of seven “rules for success” for working from home — especially during times like summer break — that help keep the work calls and mom duties equally in check!
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Create a Dedicated Workspace
One of the keys to successfully working from home is establishing a dedicated workspace. This space should be comfortable, well-lit, and enclosed to give you the emotional space as well as physical space to focus on your work while signaling to your family that you are in "work mode." By creating a clear boundary between your work and personal life, it supports both you and the kids in understanding the segmentation of mom’s roles throughout the day.
Establish a Routine
Developing a consistent daily routine can help you stay organized and manage your time effectively. This might include setting specific work hours, planning regular breaks, and incorporating time for you to recharge and enjoy family activities. Be open to adjusting your routine, especially over summer vacation, to accommodate the ever-changing demands of motherhood and professional life. Open mindedness aids flexibility and therefore lowers anxiety.
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Prioritize and Set Realistic Goals
As a working mom, it's essential to recognize that you can't do everything. Prioritize your tasks and set realistic goals for both your work and personal life every day and then make peace with that. Something will have to wait until tomorrow.
Stay Connected With Colleagues
Remote work can be isolating, so it's essential to maintain open lines of communication with your colleagues. Regular check-ins, casual virtual coffee dates, and team-building conversations can help you stay connected and foster a sense of camaraderie, which is vital for maintaining motivation and job satisfaction.
Ask for Help
Don't be afraid to ask for help when you need it, whether it's from your partner, family, friends, or colleagues. This one often takes us women a long time to master, but the rewards are endless. Remember, you don't have to do everything on your own: Seeking support is a sign of strength, not weakness.
Celebrate Your Achievements
Take the time to acknowledge and celebrate your successes, both big and small. This will help boost your confidence and motivation and remind you of your incredible ability to juggle motherhood and a career. We can’t do it all, but we can do a lot, and by remembering to focus on the wins, with our family and our work, we are better able to maintain a positive mindset and momentum.
Successfully juggling motherhood, professionalism, and remote work is an art that takes empathy, patience, and practice to master. Be patient — it's today's most underrated skillset.
Mimi Nicklin is the founder and chief executive of the global ad agency Freedm, host of the MimiYouYou podcast, & best-selling author of Softening the Edge. For more information on how the skillset of empathy can help you at work and at home, please visit www.empathyeverywhere.co or follow Mimi at @miminicklin on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and LinkedIn. Tune in to her top storytelling podcast via @mimiyouyoushow on Instagram to hear the honest and truly inspiring stories of working moms and more from around the world.
