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You recently had a baby, you’ve settled into life as a new parent, and you’re ready to start working again. Working remotely is a great way to save on childcare costs and ensure your children are raised the way you want without sacrificing your income to be at home. At first thought, working from home with a new baby on your hip sounds like a stressful time. But with access to the right resources and a few simple tools at your disposal, navigating your professional life as a remote working parent really is possible! Here’s how to make it work.
Prioritize Your Wellbeing
While your new baby might be the most important thing in your life right now, don’t neglect your own needs. Taking care of your well-being will boost your work productivity and help you avoid burnout during this challenging time. Thankfully, websites like Mumspired offer essentials for pregnancy and beyond, helping mums feel relaxed and cared for throughout their journey into parenthood. Get yourself some healthy snacks, calming teas, and comfortable clothes to make your work-from-home life more enjoyable. If you feel guilty prioritizing yourself right now, The Counsellors Cafe recommends just doing it anyway. Practice self-care despite your guilt, and it will get easier.
Improve Your Work-Life Balance
Achieving work-life balance is more challenging when you work from home. Your work and life seem to blend together, and drawing a line between the two is almost impossible. Flex Jobs explains that it’s important to set boundaries with your colleagues, managers, and family members. Make sure everyone knows when you will and won’t be available. And don’t be afraid to say “no” when someone oversteps your boundaries! You may also want to make some changes to your home environment to facilitate calm, focused work. For example, getting rid of clutter and decorating your home office with a few houseplants can do wonders for your productivity.
Invest In Helpful Tools
Today’s work-from-home mums have access to all kinds of tools that make it easier to juggle parenting and remote work at the same time. For example, a comfortable child carrier can help keep your hands free while keeping your baby close while you work. Mums can also utilize a number of tech tools to streamline their workflow. Look into apps and software that enable effortless team communication, document sharing, time tracking, project management, and workflow automation. These tools are particularly handy for entrepreneurs!
Tap Your Support Networks
As a new mum, you cannot overlook the importance of a strong support network. Make sure you leverage the help of friends and family as you navigate your new role as a work-from-home parent. The pandemic withdrew much of this support from new mums, but now that things are going back to normal, you can get some real use out of your support systems. You could also sign up for parenting apps like Mush and Peanut to make some new mum friends!
Stick to a Routine
A solid routine will save your sanity as you get accustomed to life as a remote working parent. Get your baby on a regular schedule so you can plan out your work days accordingly. Getting a rough idea of when your baby tends to sleep will enable you to book meetings or deep focus periods during these quiet blocks. When your child is awake or feeding, schedule less mentally demanding tasks like replying to emails. Sticking to a routine will enable you to make the most of your mental energy.
Regardless of how well you prepare to work from home as a new parent, it will still be tough at first. And that’s okay! Embracing a new routine is always going to feel a little uncomfortable in the beginning. Tap into your resources, make time for self-care, and go easy on yourself. You got this!
Treating yourself to a few self-care products is a great way to celebrate the start of your remote job! Check out the Mumspired website for products designed for mum’s happiness and well-being.
Guest blog by Eleanor Wyatt, 'Stress-Saving Tips for Working Remotely with a New Baby'
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