8 Things Every Work-From-Home Mom Should Know

Thanks to Coronavirus, many of us have found ourselves working from home and juggling child care, conference calls, the never-ending laundry pile, yet another zoom meeting, and all the meal prep. It’s not easy.

I’ve worked from home since graduating college (almost five years ago!). Currently I work part time from home with a one year old and a new pregnancy. Although I am in no way close to being an expert in this season of working from home as a mom, there are some tips I’ve picked up from my time working at home that can help make the day more manageable.

Whether you’re working from home by choice or the circumstances chose this season for you, here are eight tips for working from home as a mother.

1. Find your schedule and stick (very loosely) to it

I used to be a by-the-book schedule follower. Thing might as well have been written in my calendar with a sharpie, I was that good about keeping to the schedule I set out for myself. Now, especially in this season of mothering a one year old and growing a new baby, I write the schedule in pencil and I write very lightly so I can erase if need be.

When it comes to things that I want to accomplish, whether it’s work projects or the ever-growing laundry pile, I organize the week differently than I used to. Instead of planning my days out to the minute, I instead plan with a bit bigger scope, focusing on the goals for the week - or on rough weeks, even focusing on goals for the month.

Sometimes our schedule is a little stricter if a big project is coming due or a time sensitive thing needs tackling. But I mostly try to leave a lot of room around the margins of the day and surrender it all to the Lord and Maeve’s nap times. In that order.

2. Be intentional with your time

I try to write, work, record podcasts, and edit when Maeve is asleep. Thankfully, she’s usually a professional nap taker, so I have about four hours a day where it’s just myself and my work while she sleeps away in her crib. I know that’s not everyone’s reality.

When I do have that quiet time (and sometimes it’s an hour a day, if her schedule gets thrown off or she’s teething), I’ve learned to be incredibly intentional with it. So when Maeve’s head hits the pillow, I work on staying off social media unless I have a specific reason to be on. I pick one or two things that I’d like to accomplish in the time, and then focus in on them. Sometimes I’ll even set the phone to do-not-disturb mode and not turn it on until after I have completed what I need to get done.

3. Plan things around the schedule instead of the clock

When Maeve was first born, I really struggled to get in my morning prayer time. It seemed like anytime I would settle in to read Scripture or just sit in the silence, I’d be summoned by the cries of a baby. My spiritual mentor gave me a wonderful tip that was incredibly helpful when I voiced this frustration to her. She advised that I plan my morning prayer routine on Maeve’s schedule, not the clock.

Instead of making sure I prayed because it was 9:00am, I instead started including prayer in the first thirty minutes after Maeve went down for her morning nap. The start of the nap time was all over the place, especially when she was so little. But she generally did take a morning nap, so I started planning around that instead of getting annoyed when the time that I’d penciled in for prayer came and went because Maeve had gotten up later in the morning than usual.

4. Be open to adjusting expectations

When I first started working from home as a mom, Maeve was only a month old. Now she's a year old and has a little brother or sister on the way. Needless to say, our schedule looks incredibly different. There’s a lot more napping on my part these days than there was just a month ago (growing a baby is hard work!).

These changes and adjustments are a good reminder to hold my expectations loosely, too. I’m working on enjoying each season, and being open to things looking different next week or even the next day if I need to adjust something for my own sake or the good of my family.

5. Ask yourself if something can be done later, or tomorrow

Some days when Maeve wakes up from a nap, I find myself mourning what could have been done if she'd taken a longer nap. Something that's helped has been seeing if I'm expecting too much of the day and asking myself if something can be done later (at another nap time, when she goes to bed, etc.) or even the next day (during the next nap time or when she's more cheerful).

If something can be done later in the day, or even the next day, be present in the day God has given you, and don’t be afraid to erase some of those items on your to-do list and move them to the next day.

6. Get dressed in the morning (or the afternoon!)

When I started working from home, I thought what I wore didn't matter. But I found that on the days I took a quick shower, got dressed, and ate breakfast, the day usually ended up going smoother. A few things that have helped have been laying out clothes the night before if I'm more energetic then than in the morning, and making sure my closet is full of 90% of things I love and make me excited to get dressed in.

If you want to learn more about why you are worthy of wearing beautiful things as a mom, and as a mom who works from home, check out the latest episode of Letters to Women, where I sat down with Nicole Caruso and talked about why our closets and confidence matter as Catholic women.

7. Resist the urge to be all the things at once

It's tempting (especially working from home!) to be super woman and cram all the things into little time. I've learned I have to let go of the expectation that I have to do the laundry AND work AND love on Maeve AND plan dinner AND go grocery shopping all within the span of seven hours. It's good to outsource what you can like grocery shopping through Instacart, which has been a life saver around here lately. Make time to do what you love doing. For instance, although meals take a while to prep around here, I love cooking with ingredients from our quarantine garden.

In these early stages of a pregnancy, I’m being reminded more and more that I do not have to do all the things all the time. I’ve had multiple seasons where I’ve had to reevaluate my schedule, take steps away from things that didn’t fit the current season, and learn to say “no” more.

8. Be gentle with yourself

There are some days where I wonder if I'm giving anyone my best - it seems like I'm distracted by work when I'm with Maeve, and distracted with Maeve when I need to do work.

Remember that you're a good mom. You love your family. You're doing your best. The perfect mom for your kids is you, fully alive. There will be good days and bad days, and that is not a reflection of how good of a mom you are.

Chloe LangrJuly 27, 2020Comment