Because I recently got a job, my life as a stay-at-home mom has been turned upside down. I work at home, but even with all the benefits working at home has to offer, I still feel beat. My house is a constant disaster area and I can't remember the last time I sat down without immediately falling asleep from sheer exhaustion.
When my fellow Philly Social Media Mom Erin Flynn Jay wrote this book, I felt like she wrote it just for me. It's all about balancing your life as a mom - in every aspect. It is for every working mom - work-at-home, work in an office, traveling across the globe, EVERY type. Here, she shares an excerpt from the book which is now available on Amazon.com. I hope you will check it out!
Time Management: How Can I Balance It All?
Most career mothers agree that responsibilities overwhelm each day – that there is never enough time to get all tasks accomplished the way they want them. Career moms may strive for perfection in all they do, but soon realize that some things have to give way or they risk their sanity.
I am good at time management, but there are days I over pack my itinerary. For this book, for example, I set a timetable and have met each chapter deadline, much to the joy of my editor. Scheduling has helped me manage my time more efficiently. I allot time for work and home tasks: a half-hour for a conference call, two hours for client updates, two hours at the park with the girls, one hour for lunch, one hour for food shopping, and so forth.
Every day, I evaluate my calendar and the tasks needing to be done. If I have a heavier workweek, I may have to hire a babysitter for late afternoons. If I don’t have time to clean the house, then I call our cleaner. We’ve been using the same house cleaner for over four years who does a wonderful job. It pays to use her service because it would take me more time to do this, and frankly she’s much better at it.
Yes, our house is sometimes messy. The girls’ toys are not always put away. I turn away from this and cut myself some slack. After all, many evenings I have to return to the computer to catch up on work I could not finish in the afternoon. I love both working and spending time with the girls during the week. Working from home comes with some trade-offs, but I enjoy the daily challenges and adventures with the girls.
Career moms are the ultimate multitaskers, yet they’re not too happy about it. Research cited in the December 2011 issue of the American Sociological Review reveals that working moms are juggling multiple roles at once – and having a tough time doing so. ‘This helps explain why women feel more burdened than men,’ says Shira Offer, lead author of the study and an assistant professor of sociology at Bar Ilan University in Israel. ‘It’s related not only to quantity of time but also to their experience when they multitask.’
Mothers Multitask More than Dads Both parents reported multitasking at work more than at home, where it was a negative experience. The study’s most dramatic finding is that mothers multitask more often than fathers when they do housework – doing dishes while making dinner, for example – and they feel conflicted and stressed about it.
Offer and colleagues looked at data collected from 368 US mothers and 241 fathers in dual-earner, middle- to uppermiddle- class families in 1999 and 2000 (when the dot.com bubble burst). The parents held professional jobs and managerial positions, representing a segment that is under time pressures. The working moms indicated that they multitask 48.3 hours each week, compared with fathers’ 38.9 hours. Moms are focusing on more than one thing a head-spinning 43 percent of their waking hours. In terms of housework, moms reported that housework accounts for 53 percent of their multitasking at home, compared with 42 percent for dads; childcare was the focus of at-home multitasking 36 percent of the time for moms and 28 percent for dads.
So on average fathers multitask less often at home, but when they do, they have a completely different experience because they are less likely to engage in housework drudgery. They may do two things at once, but it’s less labor-intensive tasks such as talking on the phone while getting dressed.
About the Author:
Erin Flynn Jay is a writer and publicity expert. Since 2001, Erin has been promoting authors of new books and small businesses in all industries. Erin has expertise in successfully obtaining print, online and broadcast media placements for experts and authors.
Erin's articles have appeared in diverse publications including careerbuilder.com, MSN Careers, Brandweek, Costco Connection, Opportunity World, Sales and Marketing Excellence, The New York Enterprise Report and Wealth Manager.
Erin received a B.A. in Communication from the University of Scranton in PA and lives in Philadelphia with her family.
You can order Erin's book Mastering the Mommy Track at Amazon.com.
