They say that the most demanding job in the world is being a mom. When you’re a mother, you tend to juggle plenty of responsibilities. You need to keep up with the household chores, take care of your family, build a career, earn money for your needs, and be there as your kids grow. Figuring out how to balance all these activities will often leave you little to no time for yourself, let alone accomplish your personal goals. As a result, some of you will lose focus and have declining productivity levels.
Staying focused as a working mom may sound too difficult to achieve, but it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s impossible. While there’s no way you can become a perfect working mom who can thrive without a problem, a few things will help you stay focused and achieve a healthy and productive work-life balance.
Whether you’re operating at home or in an office, here are five tips to help you stay focused as a working mom.
- Prioritize Your Mental Health First
As they say, it’s hard to focus and do your best when you’re not feeling the best yourself. So, before you scramble to provide for your family’s needs while completing your job responsibilities, prioritize your mental health first. Give yourself enough time to perform your self-care routine. Whether reading a book, taking a nap, doing your hobby, or taking a warm shower, do whatever will relax and soothe your mind and body. As much as possible, create a specific time for your self-care routine and don’t let anything disrupt it.
Along with your self-care practices, you can also use this time to nourish your body. For instance, you can take a cognitive supplement such as Flmodafinil or other brain enhancers to promote wakefulness, improve your work/personal performance, and boost your energy levels.
Ultimately, putting your mental health first is not only for yourself but also for your family. This way, you’re setting them a perfect example of the importance of prioritizing self-care and personal growth.
- Plan Away
Wouldn’t it be easier to stay focused if you have a plan to keep yourself organized? So, before starting your day or week, plan your tasks and responsibilities. Planning will keep you grounded, especially if you’re struggling to retain your focus. It’ll also guide you on the next thing to do and prevent you from getting easily distracted by those restless thoughts.
You can choose to create a plan digitally or traditionally (pen and paper). Then, the night before, write down the tasks or responsibilities you plan to finish and accomplish for the next day. Make sure to include even the tiniest details like watering the plants, packing your kids’ lunch boxes, or printing your work-related documents.
For your weekly plan, you may include:
- Shopping for groceries
- Submitting end-of-the-week reports
- Washing your car
Just make sure you create a separate plan list for your work and personal life, so you don’t feel too overwhelmed just staring at your to-do list.
Whatever method of planning you choose, stick to what you believe will work for you and plan everything. If one or two things don’t go as planned, forgive yourself and move on to the next task.
- Never Multi-Task (Even If You Believe You Can)
Multi-tasking is only a recipe for disaster and will only put you at risk of losing your focus. One of the reasons most mothers quickly lose their momentum and end up not finishing anything is because they try to do it all at once. Remember, efficiency and productivity aren’t measured by how fast you finish everything. Instead, your productivity and corresponding accomplishments are measured by the quality of your output and how you manage your time.
- Focus On Work During Your Shift
It’s easy to focus and dedicate your time at work when you’re in an office, especially when you’re being watched by your co-workers or supervisors. But when you’re working remotely at home, almost everything around you are a distraction. For example, when you’re working in your home office and suddenly remember the load of clothes you left in your laundry, you attend to it immediately. After that, you passed by the kitchen and felt the urge to start vacuuming the floor, so you did. Before you know it, you completely forgot what you originally had to do in the first place. The simple solution is to pay attention to your work when you’re at work.
- Celebrate Every Small Wins
Understandably, it’s hard to find a good thing in your days when almost every day is chaotic and full of stress for you. However, the more pessimistic you see your days, the more you’ll feel discouraged and lose focus to do better for the next days ahead. So, even if some days are epic failures, focus on the good things that happened and celebrate your small wins.
You may not be able to shop for your groceries today, but at least you submitted your work report on time. Or, maybe you’re finally able to wake up early and do a 30-minute outdoor walk which you haven’t done in a long time. Celebrating wins, even the small ones, will keep you inspired and more focused to take on the following days ahead.
Key Takeaway
Being a working mom juggling career, family life, and personal goals can be challenging. And there will be times that you won’t be able to balance all of them, and that’s okay. As long as you know how to regain your focus, you’ll be back on your tracks and start getting things done. So, practice these tips, and you’ll have a happier family and a less stressful life.
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