FINDING WORK-LIFE-BALANCE WHEN MOM-LIFE IS UNBALANCED

It’s only mid-January, but the winter of 2023-2024 has already been a doozy.

The Balancing Act

Between our young family getting hit with COVID right after the holidays, my husband’s job needing us to flex said Christmas events with family around the actual holiday dates, and the Indiana weather conspiring to kill us and keep schools on delay/closure cycles, it was a rough time to be a working parent in any setting. From December 22 until January 16, I only had two days where I was not caring full time for our children during my work week. Two. Days.

I’m grateful, as a working mom, that I’m a fractional worker, just managing work project to project. Truly.

Because on those days when I’d have to call in sick to the office for myself or a child, or use up dwindling personal or vacation days for school closures, I can choose instead to tackle projects strategically:

• When kids go to bed. It’s a really great (quiet) workspace for me if I’m not too exhausted by then.

• Flex the time by shifting more chores/household work into my current day’s capacities and caregiving load, giving myself more dedicated work-time for the following day. If I know I can head into tomorrow with laundry already done or an activity prepped to give my preschooler to do for 45 minutes, I have given myself the gift of that time banked towards my work projects. It takes some creative prepping, but this is my favorite way to save my sanity when my kids have sick days.

• Get to it early. Getting coffee before my children awaken sometimes makes this possible, even though I am not a morning person. This is my least favorite method!

• Do it with the sniffles—without getting anyone else sick. This is the aspect of remote work that is a real benefit in cases where I’m contagious but not actually dying, and when I have my husband home to help manage the kids. This scenario is rare but is the most optimal for not getting behind.

And today, I’m managing the balancing act in one other way: playing catch-up by batching my work.

What do I mean by batching work? It’s rather like batch-cooking: using the energy, ingredients, and tools in my kitchen to prepare a larger quantity of each dish than usual.

If I’m working on a newsletter design or social media post, I’m working on the art for the next one, too.

If I’m blogging (hey! Look, Ma! I’m doing it now!), I’m pulling my own rabbit trails into a draft for a second post, or catching a pull-quote for social media.

If I’m scheduling, I’m in ‘scheduling mode’ and reaching out to several clients at once so that I can efficiently slot in meetings and calls while my calendar is pulled open.

The tactical requirements for these balancing methods can feel overwhelming, especially on the worst days when I am sick myself while still caregiving for children. In those situations, I have to give myself grace – and look for the next gap of peace and quiet so I can more fully recover from overextending. That recovery time is important for me to schedule in, too!

What are your go-to practices for keeping up with work when life throws a lot at you?