Do you ever wonder what successful working moms have in common? It’s easy – their habits! It’s things that have have incorporated into their everyday lives that make them feel happy, fulfilled, and balanced. In this blog I am sharing top 5 effective habits of successful working moms.
Let’s get started with explaining what I mean by successful working moms. I mean moms that are happy and content with their life balance. Because you are the only one who can determine whether you are successful at feeling fulfilled and happy with the way you live your life. And the habits I am about to share are applicable to all moms, but I will share them from a perspective of a working mom, because I am a working mom myself. And it makes it easier for me to give you relevant examples.
ME TIME
So let’s get right into it. The first habit the successful working moms have is they set aside time for themselves. That is both self-care and personal development. Our tendency is to take care of everyone else before we even start thinking of taking care of ourselves. That is our natural instinct. And that is where I was for a long time. That was until I read two books: Miracle Morning and Girl Wash Your Face.
That is when I realized that I cannot pour from an empty vase. Rachel talks about this concept of a vase that is standing and has a constant flow of water into it. And we are that vase and the energy is the water.
What we tend to do is tip the vase in all kinds of directions to give our energy to those around us: our spose, kids, community, and employers. There is so much tipping over that the vase is never full. Or the vase just falls over does not get any water inside of it. That is us! That is what we do!
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And Rachesl says, that instead of tipping over we should let the water flow while we stand tall. Because when the vase gets full, it overflows! And the water gets out of it. So if we fill our mind and soul, the energy will naturally flow to everyone else as well. The more we take care of us, the more we will be able to take care of the others!
So make sure that you give yourself time for just you! I set aside time every single morning to take care of me. I do it first thing in the morning because I have learned that if I wait for later, I get distracted by other responsibilities.
This is what I have learned from the Miracle Morning book. I do my miracle morning every single day.
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THEY BELIEVE IN QUALITY OVER QUANTITY
The second effective habit of successful working moms is addressing the mom guilt. We all struggle with it sometimes. But I used to struggle with it a lot!
What has helped me battle it thinking about my time with my kids in terms of quality over quantity. When I think back to my own childhood, I remember the fun things. The family trips on the weekends. The Sunday walks in the park. The talks with my mom. But when I really thought about it, I realized that they did not happen every single day or even every single week.
Many Successful Women Say the Same Thing
And that is what I hear about from women all the time. Women like Rachel Hollis, Autumn Calabrese, Jenna Kutcher, Rachel Cruze, and many more.
Quality over quantity. We want our kids to feel loved and know that we are there for them. But we don’t have to be with them 24 hours a day. But when we are with them, we make sure that it is quality time. That we give them our undivided attention.
THEY ARE PRESENT IN THE MOMENT
And that leads me to my next habit, which is to be present at the moment. That means that we give our attention to whatever we do at the time. We just talked about quality of quantity with our kids. When we are with them we concentrate on them! We don’t take our phone and scroll through social media when they are telling us about their day at school.
No Multitasking
Successful working moms develop the habit of concentrating on one thing at a time. When they work, they give their full attention to work activities.
When they are at home they take care of home responsibilities. I don’t mean that you never work when you are at home. Because we all know that there are days where that is necessary. But rather that we eliminate multitasking: playing with our kids while finishing up a report for work. Or attending a virtual work meeting while working on your side hustle.
Because when we are not present at the moment and do multiple things at the same time we tend to be less productive. And more stressed out.
Timeblocking
One of the great things to do is time blocking. And this is where I will highly recommend Jordan Page. She has made a video that went viral, where she talks about time blocking for working moms.
THEY GO AFTER THEIR DREAMS AND DESIRES
Another effective habit of successful working moms is that they go after their dreams and desires! You will never feel fulfilled in the long run if you ignore what God has put on your heart.
I used to think that going after my dreams and desires was selfish. That any time that I took away from my family, no matter how insignificant amount, would be something completely wrong to do. Then I heard women like Christy Wright talking about it from a different perspective.
When God has put something on your heart, when God gave you your talents, it is your RESPONSIBILITY to do something with them! You owe it yourself and everyone else around you!
Why we need to follow our dreams and desires?
There are two main reasons for that. One, when you are fulfilled, you will be happy and spread that joy around you. And two, when you have fulfill your dreams that provide something to others (blog, making your products, speaking at events, etc) you will help someone else with the struggle or challenge they are experiencing.
Big or small by following your dreams and desires you are making a difference in the world. It might seem small to you but there will be at least one person for whom that will make a huge difference.
And a great resource to pick up is a brand new book by Gabe Cox, called Mind over Marathon. This is an excellent book to pick up in order to figure out what your dreams and learn some practical ways to go after them.
THEY TAKE CARE OF THEIR HEALTH
And last but not least, is the habit of taking care of physical and mental health. You really cannot implement any of the previous habits when you are not taking care of your body and mind.
I have talked about it before, but my journey to be a better version of myself actually started with health journey. It was the time in my life when I was really feeling defeated after I had my second child. I felt physically and mentally drained. That is when I finally made a decision to incorporate fitness into my life and start eating a balanced diet.
The person who has helped me with that is Autumn Calabrese. Her 80 Days Obsession program has made my physically and mentally stronger. I realized that I can do hard things. She taught me about the importance of self-care. That eating right, exercising, and resting was the key to keeping me healthy. And that in turn gives us energy to handle all of our other life responsibilities. So make sure that you are taking care of your mental and physical health. A lof of successful entrepreneurs that I listen to on a regular basis say the same thing! Healthy body and healthy mind equals happy and energized you 🙂
YOUR TURN
What are some of the other habits of moms who are successful at life balance?
These habits are so true. I definitely do time blocking – I absolutely have to when it comes to my business and family.
I discovered time blocking about a year ago – it is amazing how more productive I am when I use it!
Me time!! I make a point of working out every day! Great for managing the stress of daily mom life and a good way to clear my head. Great article, thanks for the reading suggestions along the way.
I used to think that I don’t have time or energy to work out! Now I think of my workouts as a way to save time – becasue I have so much more energy that everything gets done quicker. Not to mention the sanity it gives me throughout the day 🙂
Love this post! I can’t agree more with these points! Sometimes it’s so easy to let work overflow your life and not take care of yourself. Being a Nanny I have 100% been there!
I also keep multitasking when blogging! If there is lots to do they all pop into my head at once rather than doing one at a time, ah! Thank you for reminding me of all the points 🙂
Nanny M xx
You are right! It is so easy to fall into the multitasking trap. I sometimes have to physically put something away so I’m not tempted to do two things at once 😉
I am so guilty of multi tasking as a single, self employed mum! Need to time block more effectively…
I can only imagine how crazy busy your days must be like being a single and self employed mom! Kuddos to you! Check out that vidoeo – Jordan Page has a really good system that might work for you.
Loved your post! It’s so easy to put everyone else first. I’m guilty!
You are so right! it is so easy to do it! And it’s almost like the society is judging us for not putting everyone else first!
Ooh, I want to be this overflowing vase! That makes so much sense. Have pinned this post for future reference too – love these tips. Also want to check out the time blocking video. Thank you. Xx
Yes! This is the best metaphor I have ever heard about self-care! It really made me look at things from a different perspective!
I’ve come to realise recently that multitasking really isn’t effective and you’re definitely right about quality over quantity.
Quality over quantity took me a while to realize. But I have learned over and over again with my kids that they don’t care how much time we spend together as much as the fact that when we are together I’m paying attention to them 🙂
I’m a huge believer of me time and take a day off for myself every day, every week. It allows me to handle issues more calmly and without getting stressed. I feel way more organised.
Some great things to take on board here. I’m still a SAHM, but I’m now trying to develop a new career through writing and blogging. No multi-tasking will be tough to achieve but vital for me moving forward. Love what you say about pouring from an empty vase, too. I’m guilty of looking after everyone else and then having a meltdown!!
Taking care of your health, be it sleeping enough, eating well, exercising or all of the above because a healthier you means more productivity, more energy and just a better mood! That’s what I prescribe by, and although I’m not necessarily the most organized or successful mom, I think I’m doing alright 😊
Absolutely!