Once upon a time it was possible for women in a relationship to be concerned only with the full-time job requirements of running a home and raising children. Society and sometimes pure economics today play into this mix and dictate that most pregnant mums have to work. Of course, much attention is paid to the pending arrival, but you do need to focus on your rights, as well.
1. You have a maximum of 52 weeks of maternity leave available. This entitlement is paid to you, regardless of whether you work on a full or a part-time basis, or how long you’ve worked for a particular employer.
2. This maternity leave will be subdivided into two categories and will affect the amount of money that you receive from your employer accordingly.
3. Ordinary maternity leave lasts for 26 weeks. During this time you will be entitled to all your contractual rights, including your ability to earn paid holidays and perks such as a company vehicle. In other words, you are treated exactly as if you are still working, except for the payment you receive.
4. After the first 26, the following 13 weeks are known as “additional maternity leave,” but your contractual rights only apply in certain areas. Specifically, the notice remains the same, redundancy pay availability is not changed and the standard grievance and disciplinary issues remain in force.
5. Statutory rights are effective throughout the entire period of maternity leave, including the potential for another 13 weeks of leave, which is unpaid. Fundamentally, you may not be passed over in favour of another employee and may not be discriminated against, even in the event of redundancy.
6. If you have 26 weeks of continuous service at the end of the 15th week before baby is due, you will qualify for what is known as Statutory Maternity Pay, or SMP. This allowance is calculated and determined by reference to a period of eight weeks, up to and including the 15th week before baby comes along. Your before tax earnings doing this period must have been at least ?87. If you do not so qualify, you may be entitled to receive Maternity Allowance.
7. While you may work right up until your baby is born – and it’s entirely up to you to decide, fundamentally, as you’re able to begin your maternity leave as soon as 11 weeks before baby is expected. Your leave starts and your pay starts on the day you start your maternity leave.
8. You don’t have to let your employer know that you’re pregnant from a legal obligation, up until 15 weeks before the baby is actually expected.
9. As a pregnant mother, you are entitled to free National Health Service, dental treatment and prescriptions as well.
10. Bear in mind that it could be very much in your best interests to let your employer know that you are pregnant as early as possible, as you may then be entitled to reasonable amounts of time, with pay, for visits to the doctor. In these circumstances, you may not be expected to handle certain substances, or to be involved in some tasks such as heavy lifting, in order to protect the unborn child.
There are so many things to think about when preparing to live life as an expectant mother, and you should certainly consider professional coaching to help you prepare. Everyone knows that coaching for women is widely accepted and beneficial these days and online life coaching is available for every phase of your ever-changing lifestyle!
It’s important to note that this article is only intended as a general guide for women who are getting ready for maternity leave in the UK. It’s important to keep in mind that maternity legislation can – and does, change quite frequently. With the available information at the time, the author has written this article accordingly. It is not intended to replace your own research.
Amanda Alexander is Director of Coaching Mums and a highly acclaimed ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums who yearn for success, balance and fulfilment. Are you a juggling mom? Download our free eBook for working moms that will give you 5 simple and instant ways to balance your life right now!
Tags: (coaching, business, Family, Parenting, work life balance)
There was a time when a woman who was in a relationship could concentrate completely on the task of running a home and raising children, full-time jobs in themselves. Society and sometimes pure economics today play into this mix and dictate that most pregnant mums have to work. While most of the attention, quite rightly so, is on the pending arrival, you also need to be aware of your rights.
1. You are entitled to 52 weeks of maternity leave at a maximum. This entitlement is yours regardless of how long you’ve worked for your employer or if you are full or part-time.
2. This maternity leave will be subdivided into two categories and will affect the amount of money that you receive from your employer accordingly.
3. The standard maternity leave ordinarily lasts for 26 weeks. You will be entitled to receive all your contractual rights during this period of time and to retain any perks such as a company car and your paid holiday earning ability. In other words, you are treated exactly as if you are still working, except for the payment you receive.
4. You will get “additional maternity leave” for 13 weeks after the initial 26 have been completed and now your contractual rights will apply only in certain areas. Your notice period remains the same, your availability of redundancy pay is unchanged and your typical disciplinary and grievance procedures still apply.
5. Statutory rights are effective throughout the entire period of maternity leave, including the potential for another 13 weeks of leave, which is unpaid. Fundamentally, you may not be passed over in favour of another employee and may not be discriminated against, even in the event of redundancy.
6. You will qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) if you have 26 weeks of continuous service at the end of the 15th week before the baby is expected. This allowance is calculated and determined by reference to a period of eight weeks, up to and including the 15th week before baby comes along. Your before tax earnings doing this period must have been at least ?87. If you do not qualify for SMP, you may be entitled to Maternity Allowance.
7. The earliest you are able to start your maternity leave is 11 weeks before your baby is due, but it is up to you to decide and you can work right up until the birth. Both the period of your leave and your payment will commence on the day that you actually begin your maternity leave time.
8. You are not legally obliged to tell your employer that you are pregnant until 15 weeks before the baby is expected.
9. As a pregnant mother, you are entitled to free National Health Service, dental treatment and prescriptions as well.
10. It may often be in your best interests to tell your employer you are pregnant as soon as possible, as you will then be entitled to a reasonable amount of time off with pay for doctor’s appointments. In these circumstances, you may not be expected to handle certain substances, or to be involved in some tasks such as heavy lifting, in order to protect the unborn child.
There are so many things to think about when preparing to live life as an expectant mother, and you should certainly consider professional coaching to help you prepare. Everyone knows that coaching for women is widely accepted and beneficial these days and online life coaching is available for every phase of your ever-changing lifestyle!
Please note – the above article is intended only as a guide for women planning maternity leave in the UK. It’s important to keep in mind that maternity legislation can – and does, change quite frequently. With the available information at the time, the author has written this article accordingly. It is not intended to replace your own research.
Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.
Tags: (coaching, business, Family, Parenting, work life balance)
There is little to match the exuberance or ecstatic feelings that you and your whole family share when a new arrival is on the way. You will be beside yourself with joy as an expectant mother and you can be sure that this will be one of the finest moments of your family’s life.
Friends and acquaintances will also be over the moon and will all look forward to the big day with much anticipation.
As your feelings of happiness know no bounds, you would be forgiven for thinking that all the World would be happy for you as well and while this is largely the case, certain elements of negativity may, however, still arise.
Surely, your boss is happy for you, but he or she may not be on quite the same level as everyone else and be particularly concerned with the operation of the business. In fact, in this case the business may come squarely in first place and you may have to be particularly persuasive if you are considering flexible working hours for your busy times ahead.
You may come to find that your boss is really a dinosaur and can be very inflexible, unfortunately, so you will have to call on all your powers of creativity and persuasiveness.
If you have a friend and co-worker who has been in your position before, now is the time to have a down-to-earth chat and to see whether she was able to achieve any two-way communication with the boss and how she handled the situation. While you are at this research stage, talk to other friends in other industries or professions and see what solutions they were able to come up with.
This is the time to be very creative and forward thinking and consider telecommuting or working from home. As companies around the World realise that they need to save on their overheads, this concept is becoming more and more acceptable. If the type of work that you do can be handled in this way, this may well be an option for you.
Above all else, you must first decide what would be the absolutely ideal situation for you. Be sure of what you are doing, as after all, remember that you must be careful what you wish for!
At the top of your list should be an ideal scenario, but you should also have options available in a less-than-perfect situation. Above all else, look at your home situation and understand what you will be able to accommodate before asking.
You should always be careful when you are discussing options with colleagues and you might have to exercise some strategy. If you all collectively share a workload, see how you could come up with ideas to divide the work accordingly, giving you a more flexible schedule. You must be willing to pull your weight in other areas and above all else make sure that you are confident it would be a win/win/win situation for the colleagues, the employer and yourself.
If your job essentially allows you to complete certain tasks regardless of time, or what used to be known as a “job and finish” situation, determine whether you would be able to do this during your personal time as part of a newly revised schedule.
The more you can show your boss that you would be equally as productive, if not more productive by working a flexible schedule, the more the dinosaur is likely to stop chewing the vegetation and listen to you!
In most situations, online life coaching can be another excellent source of research for you. Thankfully, coaching for women can always help by looking at a variety of situations and suggesting options. In this day and age, professional coaching is not just for sports players or executives any more!
Amanda Alexander is the Director of Coaching Mums and a widely renowned ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums across the globe who long for more time, balance and fulfilment in their busy lives. Download our free eBook especially for working mums with 5 easy ways to achieve balance.
Tags: (coaching, business, Family, Parenting, work life balance)
When the Work and Families Act was introduced in 2007, it was felt that it was particularly advantageous to mums to be. Up to a year off work could be enjoyed, with nine months of statutory maternity pay. For the family, much more time and attention could be devoted to the task of getting ready, receiving and raising the child during these critical periods. Maternity leave is seen as a basic human right in our caring society, although it can put pressures on both employer and employee as part of an ongoing working relationship. While employers must accept that pregnancy is possible and must accept the letters of the law, they must also be prepared to take on temporary staff as necessary to account for the woman on maternity leave. This is bound to cause a certain amount of disruption, but in the majority of situations, this is taken in stride.
There is a new clause available for the mum on maternity, allowing her to “keep in touch” through the allocation of 10 legislatively permitted days, during which she can attend work and receive a certain number of payments. Parliament decided that this legislation was appropriate and that it would help to smooth over any element of “disconnection” or normal disruption that might take place in the work place and between the employer and employee over time.
Mum can take advantage of keeping in touch days from several different perspectives. She can certainly keep up with the latest trends at work. While it is of course possible to research at home and to receive notifications, e-mails and so on while on leave, often there is no replacement for actually being at your place of employment, interacting with other staff and, for example, actually seeing how a new procedure plays out. By “keeping in touch” strategically this way, especially as time approaches to go back to work, the employee is more likely to be able to hit the ground running.
When baby came around, Mum may have been particularly busy with a challenging project. Those keeping in touch days would be particularly advantageous for her in this case, allowing her to continue to follow through and to impart her valued skills. In an ideal scenario, we would not want the business to suffer in any way and we would not want Mum to be at a disadvantage of any kind when it comes to her career, due to the fact that she was involved in a pivotal project. By using those keeping in touch days, she would just be “behind” in terms of her time spent moving forward.
Keeping in touch also will allow mum to interact with her temporary replacement and that could potentially help to smooth over any issues or problems that may arise without this type of informal supervision.
The good thing about each “keeping in touch” day is that it is paid by the employer and is not accounted for, from maternity leave pay. This can be a little boost, financially, when it is much needed.
Make no mistake about it, sometimes an extended period away from work can be very challenging and you may need to seek out professional coaching to help you understand how to handle it. These days, online life coaching, specifically online life coaching for women, is a service dedicated to helping us understand how to cope with every distinct phase of our personal lives and business careers.
Amanda Alexander is Director of Coaching Mums and a highly acclaimed ICF-accredited coach who delivers professional coaching programmes to working mums who yearn for success, balance and fulfilment. Are you a juggling mom? Download our free eBook for working moms that will give you 5 simple and instant ways to balance your life right now!
Tags: (coaching, business, Family, mother, work life balance)
Sometimes you feel that pure adrenaline alone is keeping you going and you wonder how you are able to survive, let alone function well at work and juggle all the other requirements of being a busy mum.
You know that if you could only work to a schedule, things would be more manageable, but the little one at home knows nothing of schedules! During these crucial formative years, the baby is entirely dependent on your response and it sometimes feels as if you are working a 9-to-5 shift in reverse at night, as you answer to your newborn baby’s requirements.
You are loving your new life as a devoted mother, but often feel as if you are at your wits’ end as you struggle to find that extra bit of energy to conquer seemingly mundane tasks. Isn’t in awful, when you can see the new work week approaching and not know how you’re going to cope?
While we have already determined that it is difficult to maintain a schedule and if someone mentions the phrase “time management” to you once more, you are going to scream, but it is nevertheless important for you to establish as close to a routine as you possibly can.
Without routines we find ourselves bouncing from pillar to post and it all leads up to an elevated level of stress, which negatively impacts every other area. Although you might not like to think that you have to do so, it’s important for you to get into a routine as soon as possible.
In the mornings, keep your procedures as simple as possible. Getting up can be a real wrench if your night-time rest has been disrupted by baby’s needs. Nevertheless, there is much to do and if you do these items in the same order each day, it will be easier.
Exercise is vitally important and this must be your first priority. Don’t be tempted to take an extra 15 minutes in bed. While you’re on the treadmill, the coffee can be brewing and the early morning headlines, traffic and weather ahead of you on the TV. At the appropriate time, get the children out of bed and ensure that they do their own chores as well, to help you out.
You will need to get this down to a fine art, or even a science, every day. This can be the most stressful time of the day as you are trying to wake yourself up and focus on what you have to do. If your routine is clockwork and all the other members of the family understand this and also do their bit, you’ll be better prepared to get out of the door running.
From time to time, you might think that you have nothing available when it comes to keeping up with your “me time” and enjoying your social life, having to concentrate so hard on work and the baby. You will hopefully have a great understanding with a caregiver and understand just how important this person is within your whole picture.
At work, you will, also hopefully, have a very understanding boss. Never take advantage of the situation though and only call in any favours or use any delay allowances or personal days if absolutely necessary. If you always play fair, whenever emergencies come along, you will be more able to deal with this situation and to meet with your boss’s favour.
At work, try not to schedule anything too technically demanding for first thing in the day and make sure you do not overload your schedule with unrealistic expectations.
Time management is very important during your 9-to-5 routine at work and you should try not to allow work to spill over into your own personal time.
In most cases, professional coaching can focus your attention on key areas of your life. Dedicated coaching for women is praised by many in your situation, who have turned to online life coaching to really help them get past “the wall.”
Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!
Tags: (coaching, business, Family, Parenting, work life balance)
It is nothing short of amazing to think how a single mum can balance her time between so many commitments. After all, it can seem very difficult when there are two parents in the household, so how on earth do single mums cope? Answer: They just do what needs to be done! There is such a lot to do in any given day and as a single mum you simply get on with finding ways to achieve it all.
Your list of commitments might be never-ending, but there is nothing in the rulebook to say that as a single working mum can’t have time for yourself. In all likelihood, you may have two full-time jobs, a day job dedicated to your career and the other to ’round the clock’ Family Ltd., but even in these incredibly difficult circumstances, “me time” is crucial, not just for your own sake, but for your children’s as well. After all, happy mum equals happy kids!
If you want to find “me time” as a single mum, first of all you must look at your time management. This certainly isn’t to say that you have to “punch-in” and “punch-out” of every single task and project, but it’s essential that you’re able to prioritise without second guessing yourself. If this isn’t one of your natural abilities, try this exercise: Start a diary of everything you do for around 3 to 5 days in 15 minute increments. It’s not easy by any means, but it’s incredibly worthwhile! Once you’ve finished this, you’ll have a much better idea of where you’re “loosing time” and where you’re making the most of the time available. If you have an interest in refining your time management skills and balancing out your daily life, it’s fairly easy to find helpful online life coaching professionals who can help you put everything into perspective.
Professional coaching will help you to understand the many facets of time management, and why it’s become one of the most valuable assets in business. Whilst blue-chip companies have always employed advisers and consultants, coaching for women has become increasingly commonplace, especially for single working mums who seek to balance family, career and personal life.
To enable you to find “me time,” it will help if you become more efficient at some of the tasks that you perform, day in, day out. Take a look at each area. Sometimes it will not be possible to streamline and become more efficient, but you need to tackle this with a “can do” attitude. Challenge yourself to experiment with new ways of doing things. If you have to work within a tightly constrained budget, this may not allow you to be as efficient as you otherwise could, but nevertheless, analyse everything. For example, are you being as efficient as you could be when it comes to cleaning? Do you absolutely need to repeat a certain process daily or would you be better served by allocating more time for a really thorough cleanup on one day and much less time on some of the others? If you’re a manic cleaner, try going on a cleaning diet for a few days and see if the World really does fall apart without the bathroom being cleaned daily!
While no one is advocating that you cut corners or that you don’t eat a healthy diet, see if you can make alterations to cut down on the amount of time that you spend preparing or cooking. Introduce fresh vegetables or fruits more often, scoring in terms of diet and less preparation. Take the “cook once eat twice” challenge, looking for recipes that you can double up on and either eat on two days running or freeze. How much time could you save if you cooked only 4 times per week instead of 7 and what could you do with that “cook free” time that you’ve saved?
Remember that certain things are not optional. You must get an adequate amount of sleep and you can’t “buy into” this time, and building exercise into your week is like paying into a health savings account – you’ll see “compound” benefits very quickly in your resilience, your health and your self-confidence . Simply by concentrating on exercise routine you can often get more energy, promoting greater efficiency during your working day.
Amanda Alexander is the Managing Director of Coaching Mums. She is a celebrated ICF accredited coach, who for over six years, has been helping thousands of working mums from around the World bring balance back into their lives, lose their guilt, find the time to explore their passions, and generally, to have a lot more fun! For fantastic articles and hot professional coaching tips, sign up to receive “Inspire”, our famous free newsletter today!
Tags: (coaching, Family, mom, mother, mum, relationship, work life balance)
Parents can find it very hard to understand all the changes that they have gone through. They may well have become accustomed to the idea of living together and operating as a cohesive partnership, but when children arrive this throws the delicate balance off course.
What may have been a perfectly happy marriage can become, rather quickly, a rocky road. Delicate adjustments are needed by both people here as they try and right the boat and this can apply whether you have had kids before, or not. Maintaining a happy and successful relationship when kids come into the equation really does require us to constantly work at our relationship with our other half.
Whenever doubts arise, worries come to the surface or even anger bubbles up, it is important to take a step back and look at the overall picture. Do you feel that you cannot properly see the problem due to life’s complexity? So much is going on that it is easy for parents to become overwhelmed and not know how to cope. From an overall perspective, both now have to take on additional jobs and become multiple role players. In a situation such as this, even more pressure can arise as each person tries to concentrate on their new role, to the detriment of the other relationships. To take new parents as an example again, “mum” may become somewhat obsessed with the idea of caring for her newborn and the marriage itself may not have as much of a priority.
Meanwhile, new dads can often feel a bit left out and surplus to requirements! A husband may “assume” that his wife needs overall responsibility and is the best person to look after the kids. The danger here is that he may distance himself from the partnership, assuming that he’s doing the right thing.
The most important thing for parents to do is to watch for warning signs and really understand their partner. Look for signs of overload, irritability or a short temper. The worst thing one can do is to leave any potential problems unchecked as they can quickly become unmanageable and dangerous.
Whenever the kids are not around, sit down and have a very deep and meaningful conversation. Ask yourself whether you are being reasonable and ask the other for their honest input. Remind each other that things have changed now that you have additional family members and this is to be understood, priorities now look different.
You both have to work together as a cohesive team to raise your children in the way you want, and you shouldn’t underestimate how much effort and active input this takes from both of you. When all is said and done, give each other a hug and remember that you are the leaders of the pack!
It’s not all doom and gloom You do need to prioritise time together, but just make sure that your time represents quality time. Ask yourself when you last spent a weekend away together or did something fun with each other. Plan a really nice, romantic dinner and don’t forget those meaningful, romance filled surprises, from back in the day.
Experts can often help mums with their huge challenge ahead, especially those who are still working when all this madness is going on. Thankfully, online life coaching is a marvellous way to pick up some truly professional coaching, and when it comes to coaching for women, it’s the perfect place to turn when life becomes manic!
Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!
Tags: (coaching, (working mother, business, Family, mother, Parenting, women, work life balance)
We frequently hear about the habits of slick entrepreneurs and there are plenty of nuggets of wisdom to pick up from them. As a mumpreneur, working from home, juggling a family and a difficult business, forming these habits can be quite a proposition.
If you have ever tried juggling the task of being an entrepreneur and a mum, you can see why many turn to online life coaching providers to help them with this difficult task. By coaching women I can understand the difficulties and the particular circumstances, between work, family and being a woman. I also focus her in on seven fundamental “habits” that will help her to juggle it all without feeling overwhelmed.
Habit No. 1 – Prioritise!
It is a truism that time is our most precious commodity and we just don’t have enough of it. Have you ever noticed that time flies when you’re having fun, but the opposite is also true?
If we are busier than ever and time is flickering past, we have to be able to understand the management of time, or we will be quickly overpowered.
Most professional coaching experts will tell you that time management is rule number one.
Evaluate all that you have to do and take time to jot it all down in a list. Sort the list and prioritise and work on whittling the list down until it is workable. When you embark on this task, it can seem daunting, if not impossible. However, with a little ingenuity and application, you can make it work. When you have finished, print it all out and make sure you display it prominently, so you can always refer to it.
Habit No. 2 – Don’t forget about you!
The second habit of highly effective mumpreneurs is that they remember to think about themselves! By focusing some time on yourself, you will ensure that you will not become overwhelmed, burnt out with a corresponding effect on your productivity.
So make personal time a priority and understand that this is not about being selfish, but is in fact a vital investment in your business and your life.
Habit No. 3 – Inject some routine.
Become a creature of habit with a set routine. They say that it takes a minimum of 14 attempts at something before a habit becomes ingrained, and we all seem to work better if we adopt a routine.
Some of us do not like to be structured in this way, but experience has shown that injecting some routine markedly helps with daily management.
Habit No. 4 – Don’t get distracted!
Whilst phone calls from close friends can sometimes be a welcome relief, don’t let distraction become the enemy of efficiency. It’s essential to section off time where you can switch off your smart-phone and apply the voice-mail option.
I’m not advocating that you ignore people, but just try blocking out some “do not disturb” time to focus on larger projects. You can then allocate time to return calls once you’ve completed the tasks and projects that are essential to grow your business.
Habit No. 5 – Create sacred space to work.
The fifth habit is about setting up your own personal and private area. A surprising number of mumpreneurs operate their businesses from their homes. If you happen to be a work from home entrepreneur, you’ll know from first-hand experience that it’s not a good idea to try balancing a laptop on the living room table and placing your file cabinet in the lounge!
In whatever spot it is in your house, make your workspace special and if possible set it up in its own room, away from the children when you’re trying to work. Design this room with efficiency and ergonomics in mind and don’t use it for leisure purposes. If feasible, try to have another computer set up in another spot for personal applications.
Habit No. 6 – A healthy body and mind, equals a healthy business.
If you don’t take care of yourself, all the rest of your habits will be tough to maintain. Exercise and fitness must become a habit and you should plan on getting at least three exercise sessions in per week.
Do whatever is easiest for you to take on as a new exercise habit. So if you don’t live near a gym, it’s unrealistic to plan to go to a gym three times a week, as you’ll find that you don’t have the time to travel to and fro. Always try to keep it simple – walking, running, cycling or dancing to an exercise DVD are all excellent examples of ways for you to keep your body moving, and they’re easy to integrate into your daily life as a mum as well.
Habit No. 7 – Create an outstanding superstar success team!
You’ve heard the expression “no man is an island” and the same applies to women! None of us can run a business alone and we all need support in various guises – mothers even more than most as we’re juggling so many commitments. Ask yourself what sort of support you need to become a highly successful mumpreneur and start to look for ways of building your “superstar success team.”
Professional coaching for women can help you to achieve your business goals much more quickly than you would on your own and is an important part of any highly effective mumpreneur’s success team.
But however you choose to build your team, don’t try to do everything on your own as there is so much to be gained from seeking the wisdom of good friends, confidants, associates and professional coaching experts. They can be superb sounding posts and lynchpins to your business success!
Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!
Tags: (coaching, (working mother, business, Family, mother, Parenting, women, work life balance)
As a working mom, it’s often incredibly difficult to find the time to reach any semblance of balance while being stretched all directions throughout each and every day. These days, it seems that unless you’ve got a special gift for effective time management, it’s just not possible to find enough time to take care of all the needs of your children, your job, your housework and the myriad of other tasks that are always so necessary.
When we choose to put things off until tomorrow – or the next day, we usually end up feeling guilty about it, and unfortunately this course of action only serves to magnify our daily problems. Budgeting can be quite a challenge and if you only have a limited source of income you will always feel pressured to spend it on the kids and other household items, relegating yourself to last place in the pecking order.
As a working mother, you have to keep in mind one crucial point – you represent the “engine” that keeps the whole family going, and without you being at your best, other aspects of the family machine simply won’t work as well. Therefore, relegate any feelings of guilt to the back of your mind and understand that any time you invest in yourself is an investment in everything around you, your kids and your overall life. It’s essential that you feel good about yourself or, with the passage of time, you’ll feel increasingly burdened, and put yourself in a situation where depression could take hold and create a never-ending downward spiral.
One of the most crucial goals for you to work toward should be to establish a solid support network all around you. It’s a good idea to remember to lean on your close friends for support – you know who they are, they’re the true friends you can always turn to in situations like these at any time. Don’t forget though, that this kind of support is a two-way street. You may already have close family members who help you out, but don’t be afraid to seek the help of a professional coaching expert, specifically coaching for women in your situation as well.
Hopefully you can find a good friend who is willing to become a babysitter for you, so that you can take that special “me” time. If you try hard enough, there’s always a way to find a little bit of extra time to make yourself feel “yummy,” instead of slummy! Always keep in mind that no matter how much chaos seems to reign everywhere around you on a daily basis, you have to take control over the factors that you can manage.
Looking and feeling fabulous on a low budget is not that difficult. Your toughest challenge will be in setting aside the necessary time to truly pamper yourself. Once you accept this as a priority, pay attention to the essential elements.
The best thing you can do for yourself on a daily basis is to commit to an exercise routine, and we don’t mean carrying around big bags of groceries or tidying up your home! A concerted period of cardiovascular work is perfect, or you can event start out by using a small set of hand weights while walking around the neighbourhood.
Before you know it you’ll feel better physically and mentally, and your skin tone will even start to shine brightly again. You can pick up supplies to do a really great home manicure and pedicure, schedule a visit to a beautician or hairstylist and just focus on your personal time in the bathroom more often.
Feeling good is a state of mind. This process usually begins with a renewed focus on setting aside time for you, and then giving this time an equal priority.
For more hints and tips on how to feel great as a low-budget mum, check out the numerous online life coaching resources available!
Amanda Alexander is the Founder and Inspiration behind Coaching Mums. She’s a distinguished ICF accredited coach, who for almost seven years now, has been bringing a new feeling of hope into the lives of working mums from around the world, showing them how to discard their guilt, rediscover their passions and to have a lot more fun! For amazing articles and truly effective professional coaching tips, sign up to get “Inspire” right away, our absolutely outstanding free newsletter!
Tags: (coaching, business, coaching for women, life coaching, mom, mother, mum, professional coaching, therapy
It is nothing short of amazing to think how a single mum can balance her time between so many commitments. After all, it can seem very difficult when there are two parents in the household, so how on earth do single mums cope? Answer: They just do what needs to be done! In any given day as a single mum, there’s just so much that needs to be done, and you have to keep on looking for new and inventive ways to accomplish everything.
Your list of commitments might be never-ending, but there is nothing in the rulebook to say that as a single working mum can’t have time for yourself. In all likelihood, you may have two full-time jobs, a day job dedicated to your career and the other to ’round the clock’ Family Ltd., but even in these incredibly difficult circumstances, “me time” is crucial, not just for your own sake, but for your children’s as well. A happy mum has happy kids!
If you’re trying to find more “me time” as a single mum, the first thing you should do is look into your time management methods. This is not to say that you must “clock-in” and “clock-out” of every task and project, but you must be able to prioritise ruthlessly. If this isn’t one of your natural abilities, try this exercise: Start a diary of everything you do for around 3 to 5 days in 15 minute increments. It’s not easy by any means, but it’s incredibly worthwhile! Once you’ve done this you’ll get a clear picture of where the time “goes” and where you are making the most of your time and where you might be “losing” time. If you have an interest in refining your time management skills and balancing out your daily life, it’s fairly easy to find helpful online life coaching professionals who can help you put everything into perspective.
Professional coaching tells us that time management is one of the most important assets in business. Whilst blue-chip companies invariably employ a host of advisers and consultants, coaching for women has become increasingly sought after, especially for single working mums who are looking for a way to balance their family, career and personal life.
To enable you to find “me time,” it will help if you become more efficient at some of the tasks that you perform, day in, day out. Take a look at each area. Sometimes it will not be possible to streamline and become more efficient, but you need to tackle this with a “can do” attitude. Challenge yourself to experiment with new ways of doing things. If you have to work within a tightly constrained budget, this may not allow you to be as efficient as you otherwise could, but nevertheless, analyse everything. For example, are you being as efficient as you could be when it comes to cleaning? Do you absolutely need to repeat a certain process daily or would you be better served by allocating more time for a really thorough cleanup on one day and much less time on some of the others? If you’re a manic cleaner, try going on a cleaning diet for a few days and see if the World really does fall apart without the bathroom being cleaned daily!
While no one is advocating that you cut corners or that you don’t eat a healthy diet, see if you can make alterations to cut down on the amount of time that you spend preparing or cooking. Introduce fresh vegetables or fruits more often, scoring in terms of diet and less preparation. Take the “cook once eat twice” challenge, looking for recipes that you can double up on and either eat on two days running or freeze. How much time could you save if you cooked only 4 times per week instead of 7 and what could you do with that “cook free” time that you’ve saved?
Remember that certain things are not optional. You must get an adequate amount of sleep and you can’t “buy into” this time, and building exercise into your week is like paying into a health savings account – you’ll see “compound” benefits very quickly in your resilience, your health and your self-confidence . Simply by concentrating on exercise routine you can often get more energy, promoting greater efficiency during your working day.
Amanda Alexander is the Founder and Inspiration behind Coaching Mums. She’s a distinguished ICF accredited coach, who for almost seven years now, has been bringing a new feeling of hope into the lives of working mums from around the world, showing them how to discard their guilt, rediscover their passions and to have a lot more fun! For amazing articles and truly effective professional coaching tips, sign up to get “Inspire” right away, our absolutely outstanding free newsletter!
Tags: (coaching, Family, mom, mother, mum, relationship, work life balance)
