Juggling Mum Life and Work

Running a small business is tough at the best of times. Add a child into the mix and it’s a whole new and different challenge! Whether you have your own business - big or small - or you’re working in ‘regular’ employment, here I’m sharing some top tips that have made all the difference for me this past year.

When preparing for Arlo’s arrival I planned to take 4 months off of work. Now, when I say ‘off’ this was time away from face-to-face training interactions. Me being me, there was no chance I could step away entirely. I stayed in touch with clients, making sure they were keeping up with the workouts I had programmed for them during my maternity leave and trying to keep them motivated. Most of them came to me for personal training because they need that accountability - that extra push - and I love my clients and work so I didn’t want to let anyone down.

When the time came to return to work, I pushed back a month. I felt so conflicted with half of me wanting to soak up every precious moment with my baby boy and not run the risk of missing out on important milestones, while the other half of me was keen to move the business (my OG baby) on and give it the attention it requires. I have to say, my clients were A-mazing. There was no pressure at all from them to get back, but I knew some weren’t getting on with the online training and at the end of the day, I’m self-employed. If I don’t work, I don’t earn and again me being me, I take pride in successful small business and in seeing my clients thrive.

Putting Arlo into nursery, albeit for just half a day at first, left me feeling guilty but once he’d settled in and I was confident that he enjoyed his time with his new friends, I can honestly say I LOVED being back at work. He had another afternoon each week with his Nana Roo and it’s my opinion that his time away from me is important. As is my time away from him. Being a Mum is full on. There’s no denying it. It’s magic and chaos. Incredible and knackering. Rewarding and emotionally draining. And as well as that, it is hard to keep a hold of yourself when you’re role as Mummy takes centre stage. At least that’s my experience.

So, working again was a blessing. But how do you juggle it? I’ve been back working nearly a year now and have really found my groove. Despite working part time, I feel like the business is doing better than ever…though of course there is always room for improvement and doing everything yourself, there is never a moment when nothing needs to be done.

So here we have it: 5 top tips for juggling motherhood and work!

Be strict with your time.

Prior to having a child I worked for the client, sometimes to my own detriment. I had gaps in my days - often hours long! - and I worked early mornings and late into the evenings. To an extent, this is the nature of personal training; most clients work the traditional 9-5 so you have to work around them. However, with a small child I didn’t have that luxury of time and no commitments (beyond seeing my husband) so after an open conversation with existing clients I set work windows (one afternoon/evening and two mornings, to include a weekend). These were my face-to-face client hours. If we couldn’t make it work with those times/days, then unfortunately we couldn’t work together. This was really daunting at first, but my clients understood and I would say I was able to work 90% of them into the new set hours. Most important of all, I needed to do this to be organised with childcare and to be present with my boy when I was in Mum mode.

Now, a year later, this is hands down the best decision I made. I have structure, efficiency and balance. When I’m with Arlo, I am Mum. When I’m at work, I am Stacey the Personal Trainer. If behind-the-scenes work needs to done, then I use nap times or the odd evening to do it, which works well for me.

Cut out distractions.

I’m writing this post from a cafe having unusually finished with clients early and finding myself with a few hours to spare before the nursery pick up. I could have gone home and set up the laptop but I know myself and know that I would easily have been distracted by the pile of washing, the ability to hoover without a toddler ‘helping’ or by the luxury of taking the dog out for a walk sans pushchair. Coming to a cafe where all I can do is crack on was the best idea (I’m ploughing through my To-Do list!)

I also have a timer on my phone - 15 minutes - in which time I cannot scroll social media, send messages or get distracted my internet shopping! If after that 15 minutes I want to send that text, or have a quick browse, then I can. However, I’ve already reset the timer three times as I’m well in the zone. There are apps that pop your phone into airplane mode for the duration of your ‘productive time’ if you don’t trust yourself. Forest is a good one.

Have a plan.

One of the most unproductive things is setting time aside to work and then not having a plan when the time comes, which inevitably means pondering and procrastinating for the first 20 minutes. Way back when, when I worked in an office, I would write a To-Do list and this action has continued to present day. Usually I’d do this at the end of the day ready in anticipation for the next day. Then when the time comes, you can crack on from the offset, no precious time wasted.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

This was a big one for me but there is truth in the phrase ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. I’m one who thinks I can do it all but the reality is, I simply cannot be in two places at once and I can’t be present with my son if I’m also trying to fire off an email. Accepting this, booking him a place at nursery and calling upon Nana Roo’s Day Care has been critical.

Keeping communication open with your husband/partner/significant other is also key. Managing their expectations while still valuing your work needs is challenging but important in achieving the balance.

Be realistic and don’t make false promises.

Again, this has been a learning curve for me. Promising to make amendments to client programmes or send a link ‘as soon as I get home’ isn’t realistic. As soon as I get home from the nursery pick up I’m usually serving dinner, playing…basically jumping straight into Mum mode. So, instead of promises something that despite my best intentions isn’t realistic, I try to be realistic. I will make the amendment or send the email, 90% of the time on the same day and certainly in a timely fashion, but I try not to necessarily promise to do it ASAP. This takes the pressure off of myself but also helps to manage the clients’ expectations and reaffirms boundaries.

BONUS TIP: Give yourself a break!

You won’t get these early years with your child(ren) back so give yourself grace and try to accept that perhaps this time in your career and life is a little slower. Use this time to find your feet in an ever-changing period of life and work on understanding that you can’t be everything for everyone.