Tips for working mums

Well tips for all mums really as you can adapt them to all parts of your everyday life : ) I get a lots of questions about my work/ what I do  and how I stay organised etc. I haven’t really replied to these as yet as I wanted to compile it all into a few posts over a week like I am doing now : )

Firstly the most commonly asked question is what do I do? Well without saying exactly what I do for obvious privacy reasons I will give you all a brief run down. I work as an Account Manager for a company looking after their business customers. By look after them I email through price lists and specials, help them with their ranging of products, lend out demonstration machines, provide POS and training for the staff when necessary. Basically be their point of call for the business as needed.

I realized early when I went back to work when Flynn was about 6 months old that I needed a more flexible job than the office one I had. I was working for a Telecommunications company  and doing 3 days per week- but a long day 6/7 until 3/4, It was tough and after a few weeks I resigned knowing that this set up would never work with young children.

I needed to be able to work from home, drop my children at school, complete emails at night if needed and work around my family. I wanted them and my children to remain a priority in my life and so I needed to find that all important work/life balance. It took me until Flynn was about 2 to find that balance and then stop feeling guilty about working.

As mothers we all make our own choices  and mine was that I wanted to work. I know this is not for everyone but I knew it was the right thing for me. Simon has the same sort of job role just a different company which means we can juggle the boys between both our jobs and the grandparents with a day of daycare thrown in for socialization for Flynn.

So that is what I do. Mostly I love it and some days it’s all too hard and I want to crawl into bed and stay there ; )

And so now to share some tips. Both for working mums and anyone really wanting to stay organised.

Tip #1- Baking in bulk and freezing. I do this for meals which I have spoken about before a lot on the blog. But no so much snacks. I also freeze a lot of snacks. Muffins, cookies and breads etc freeze very well. I like to use the mini size Glad Bags for these, I freeze on the day I bake and then take out in the morning, by the time snack/lunch time comes around they will be defrosted and ready for eating.

Sunday morning is a great baking day for me. I am usually in the kitchen cooking pancakes etc anyway and so I do some muffins/cookies/ banana bread at the same time. These are then ready for Monday and it is a great way to have healthy snacks available all throughout the week. It can also be handy for unexpected visitors as well.

Tip #2- Packing snacks for yourself. Simple but really great during the day while you are out and about. I find it works really well to lay out what I am going to have the night before so when I am half asleep, making breakfast and tending to babies in the morning it is one less thing to think about.

I often don’t pack lunch I just have that once I get back from work or while I am out and about.  And yes there is a lot here, I get super hungry when I am breastfeeding.

So there is the start and tomorrow is about returning to work and breastfeeding : )