Career and Kids: How to Have it All

It’s increasingly common for mums to work. In days gone by, women tended to scale back or give up work when they had children, but a growing number of parents are choosing to pursue a career at the same time as bringing up kids. If you’re expecting and you’re hoping to go back to work, join one of the many apprenticeship courses, or you have children and you’re looking for tips to help you enjoy the best of both worlds, you should find this guide helpful.

Pinpointing your objectives

If you’re pregnant, or you already have children, and you know that you want to raise kids at the same time as earning a wage, it’s beneficial to try and outline your objectives. You don’t have to have a rigorous 5-point plan in place for the next year or 10 years, but it’s a good idea to have a rough plan in mind. You might find that you change your mind once you have a baby, or your kids reach school age, but if you can work towards some kind of goal, this will give you clarity and motivation. Do you want to study? Are you keen to work part-time? Do you want to go back to your old job? Are you eager to start your own business? Think about how you’d like your future to look, and start taking small steps towards these goals. I know I have! 

Managing your time

We all know that time is a luxury when you have a job and you have children too. Life can be hectic enough when you work or have kids, so combining the two can result in a packed schedule. If you do want to work, and you’re bringing up children at the same time, it’s incredibly beneficial to think about how you manage your time and whether you could implement any changes to help you free up more time and use the hours you do have more constructively.

Technology plays an increasingly valuable role in our society, and it can help us manage our time more effectively. Consider the impact of ordering groceries online to be delivered to your home, for example. Gone are the days of having to bundle the kids into the car, sit in traffic, find a parking space and try and negotiate a peaceful passage around the store with hungry, tired children in tow. Even something as simple as placing an order online can save you valuable hours. Another example you may want to explore, especially if you plan to study at the same time as parenting, is online courses. There’s a vast array of options out there including examples like Kettering Online’s Masters in Lean Manufacturing. Online learning enables you to complete modules at a time that is convenient to you, and you can structure your schedule around other commitments. You can also study wherever you like, which gives you much more flexibility. Tech around the home can also help to make everyday tasks easier. Introducing innovative gadgets that feature AI, for example, could free up precious minutes when you’re trying to juggle activities with the kids, doing laundry, vacuuming the carpets, making lunch and answering the door to the postman.

Learning to say no is another major component of effective time management. If you’re working or studying, and you’re also raising children, it’s highly likely that you don’t have enough hours in the day to take on overtime or attend every play date or after school club going. Many of us don’t like to say no because we fear letting people down, but you have to learn to prioritise your time. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to wave a magic wand and add a few extra hours to the day if you’re running behind schedule. As well as learning to say no, it’s also crucial to make time for yourself and to ask for others for help if you need time out. Yes, you love spending time with your little ones, but there’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting half an hour on an evening to enjoy a hot bath and a good book.

Managing your expectations

We live in a world where we’re told that it is possible to have it all. This statement is true in the 21st century, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to excel in every field and take on more than you feel is manageable. It’s brilliant that there men and women out there who appear to have it all sorted and who can excel in a high-powered job and raise kids at the same time, but don’t assume that they sail through life without any problems or low points. We tend to focus on a vision that isn’t always achievable, and this is often a result of our interest in social media. The trouble is that social media offers a snapshot into a person’s life. You may see perfect family portraits, days out, and cocktails with the girls, but what you don’t see is the everyday struggles every parent faces.

If you’re aiming to pursue a career and you want to be the best mum ever, you have to take the rough with the smooth and realise that it’s unhealthy to obsess about perfection. Perfect doesn’t exist, and the sooner you understand that your best is all you can do, the better. Manage your expectations. By all means, be ambitious and driven, but don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Don’t assume that you’re a failure if you miss one bedtime because the train home from work was late, or put yourself down because you didn’t have too much to contribute in one meeting because you had a sleepless night. Find a balance that suits you and learn to recognise that there’s a limit to how much you can achieve.

We live in a society that offers a great deal of opportunities, but that doesn’t mean that it’s easy to combine working and parenting. More and more women are choosing to work after having kids, but it’s no mean feat finding the time and energy to excel in both roles. If you have kids, and you’re trying to climb the career ladder, or you’re preparing to go back to work or start a new job or a home business, hopefully, this guide has given you inspiration and confidence.

This is a collaborative post.