Life has many obstacles and challenges which you face every day, on top of that add in a newborn or child and it’s a wild ride. The number of things you have to worry about, sometimes feel endless but rest assured you aren’t the only one and this is only normal to feel like you’re sinking and aren’t able to stay afloat.
Don’t worry, there’s hope and light at the end of the tunnel. There are a few tips below which definitely helped me and hopefully helps you too.
1. PRIORITISE: Yes, there’s washing to be done, but your baby is crying and needs your attention, that pile of washing can wait. Baby will eventually settle once you’ve attended to their needs and that washing doesn’t have feelings and will still be sitting there. My point is, don’t overwhelm yourself with so much at once. Yes, you won’t be able to attend to things as quickly as you were able to before baby or kids and that’s OK, because you are only human and you need to do what matters & right now, that’s you and baby.
2. CALENDARS/REMINDERS: When you need to remember an event, appointment, work meetings, Baby Doctor appointments or even feeding schedules, ADD that into your calendar as soon as you think of it, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting it. As you are trying to navigate through this new chapter of your life of being responsible for your mini human, there’s a lot of unpredictability & you want to try and make that easier for yourself by using technology for its purpose. When you go to bed, have a look at the next day’s calendar or reminders, just to prepare your mind for what you have planned or need to remember.
3. SET BOUNDARIES: Whether you're self-employed or an employee, it’s so important to know where you stand and what you can expect now that you’re a parent. If you’re self-employed, try to set yourself start and end times with your day, remember you do have more flexibility than being employed by an employer and are able to use various times of the day/night to get work done then certain set hours of the day. If you’re employed, find out your sick/annual leave in advance just in case you do need it, as children get sick quite often, especially if they’re in daycare. Find out if your job allows you to work from home if you can and also make them aware that you may need to leave unexpectedly if your child is sick or something can happen unexpectedly. Preparing everyone’s expectations is so important as it allows others to understand your situation and you won’t need to feel guilty about it.
4. ASK FOR HELP & SUPPORT: It’s not a sign of weakness if you need to ask for help or support, it’s called managing the little time you have as a parent and if you think of any business, as employees you are helping the business grow, you need the exact same thing to help your children grow. If you have family or friends that are available to help, make sure you put your hand up and ask for help. If you don’t have family or friends around, try to find a babysitter or carer even for a couple of hours to look after the baby for you, so you can have time for yourself to rest, clean, work or even catch your breath. Being a mum can be exhausting and you 100% need a break, consider it a full-time job without getting paid. You will learn that there are people there to help you and you shouldn’t feel ashamed or afraid to ask. Don’t feel guilty, we all need to get things done and let’s be realistic, some tasks just can’t be done, when you have a baby or your kids with you.
