These mothers counter the varying challenges at different stages of motherhood through boundary work. Boundary management encompasses many areas in the life of a blogger and WAHM - in content development, material environment, and social relationships. They use communication tactics, temporal tactics through time management and self-care, spatial/physical tactics, and behavior tactics through delegation and prioritization.
I realized that moving from a serious, corporate, rat race life to a stay-at-home Mom to a blogger to a social media advocate meant that I could be anything I want to in this life…..that age should not limit one's self…..that passion happens at any age…..that being a woman finding her strength in her feminine power was awesome….that being a Mom to adult children brought me new freedom and new experiences with my family…..that I had a personal stake in trying to transform my country into a much better one for my children, their friends, and their families for future generations.
These moms are just some of the people who faithfully pray for me, my husband, my son, and my family. I'm so blessed to have praying friends! We share our concerns and burdens and we commit to pray for each other. Together, we praise and seek God by studying His word.
A valuable time management technique is to establish a work routine that suits individual physical requirements as well as schedules. This means give a daily schedule. There was a time for schoolwork, naps and play time. By the time, the girls ate solid food, I gave them an hour to finish their lunch. If they weren't done, I removed the plate. The consequence of getting hungry is not eating their lunch properly. They learned that one has to eat at the proper time. Bedtime routine was also strictly followed. No late nights for my kids up to their pre-teen years. As they reached their teen years, I gave more allowances for them to arrange their schedules but still the bedtime and waking up rule was followed.
Know when you are most effective to work - if you are a morning person or an evening person.
Set your limits. Good boundaries are set when you know where you stand and having to know this doesn't have to be so tedious, you may want to take into consideration what you can tolerate and accept and what makes you feel uncomfortable. Identifying those feelings may help you set your parameters.
Try block scheduling or working on smaller tasks on different blocks of time during those hours that your baby's calm or entertained with toys. You can block an hour in the morning for client meetings or at least 30 minutes in the evening to catch up with a client who prefers end-of-day meetings.
Just like in business, I can never make it work without the help of my team. Having your partner help you no matter how busy they are will not only make your life easier, but you're also encouraging bonding moments between your kids and their daddy. If there are times that I know I couldn't attend to Kyle for a certain period of time, I would ask his dad to spare some time or adjust his schedule so he could fill for me.
For discipline, I like to think of my blogs as work. Six to eight hours a day. Preferably with no interruptions. Note though that cooking time is included in those six to eight hours.
I am guilty of not following healthy sleeping habits, but I now understand what's causing my sleepless nights and poor quality of sleep. With the right sleeping habits, we can start living a healthier mom life.
-Charlyn June Fadchal Awing
I find meeting up with other bloggers and groups like Connected Women helpful.
Working from home gave me the freedom to be with my child anytime I want. You would think it is all lovely and glamorous, well, it's not. Working from home means that you juggle with your deadlines and your child's attention.
Make time for yourself. It's challenging when you have kids, I know. But it doesn't have to be an all-out spa day. Making time for yourself can simply mean spending five minutes in silence in the morning, before the kids wake up. Or, writing on your journal at night after the kids have gone to bed.
I have two notebooks: a planner for the daily schedule and a journal for a to-do list on a weekly basis. When it's not accomplished within the week, I'll carry it over the next week.
When I was still working, I felt there was more order in my life. Maybe it's the fixed working hours, the structure. Now there's chaos! But it's a beautiful chaos. And I am working on getting back that order again. At this point, I'm content with doing small projects on the side to keep me sane, and maybe when the kids are older, I can take on bigger opportunities that may come my way.
Just as you have your to-do-list at work, spare a page of your notes for the household chores, or keep notes on the fridge for you to see. There was a time when I had no help, I would get up as early as 4am and made sure that everything that my children need are ready before they are up from bed. As soon as they left home for school, my day begins but I have kept a rule for myself and that is "FINISH WHAT YOU CAN ONLY DO FOR THE DAY". That is why scheduling chores are as effective as scheduling your things-to-do at work. Errands, in my case, are done in the mornings and on weekends while market and grocery trips have now been a family fun trip with my children. Involving your children will also help lessen your loads i.e. sorting of the laundry, setting the table, etc.
Time management is a mother and blogger/WAHM's greatest challenge. Time is treated as a precious commodity. Mothers stretch and maximize time that starts with careful planning.
Finding respite or self-care is a temporal tactic that allows mothers to re-energize by taking time off from work and family demands. They make sure to have enough sleep and build relationships online and offline.
Delegation and prioritization are behavioral tactics mothers use to ease the load of a mother blogger and WAHM. They rely on the knowledge and skills of other people like the husband, helper or nanny, outsourced services, and virtual assistants. When it comes to priority, the family is always number one.