My son is now five years old and it is sometimes hard to believe that I started working from home when he was nine months old. I had the pleasure of staying home with him for the first four months of his life before returning to work full time. It has always been important for me to ensure that we have quality time together and now working from home enables us to do this. However, it is not always easy.
The work/life balance is not always easy. I find myself working all the time late into the night and early in the morning. As an entrepreneur, I find my work day is rarely ever finished. Without the structure of a job that I actually leave, it is up to me to self monitor and I am not always successful. I've found that because I know it is impossible to fit everything into a day, I will let some things fall to the wayside.
If you visit my home there are many days when you will find things in disarray. However, I'm willing to sacrifice having the cleanest house on the block for the ability to have a flexible schedule that enables me to spend time with my son. I am not alone in trying to find the balance. And I know there are mothers that are likely to do a better job at balance than I do.
However, the key for me is not to compare myself to others and to do my very best. I was once told that parenting and working are like riding waves. Some days you will ride the wave high and smoothly but on other days there will be dips and you might crash. But by allowing myself to experience both the good and the bad days without beating myself up about it, I will feel better.
I take solace in knowing that I am human, I cannot always fit everything in my schedule but as long as I give myself a break, I can find a "balance" that is reasonable and works for me. My family is ultimately my top priority and if making small sacrifices to ensure that I spend time with my family means I have to work later in the night or wake up early in the morning I am willing to do it.
And one thing that I've found helps tremendously is having time to move and exercise my body. It not only helps me be more productive, it is important for my health and helps me sleep better. Fitting in exercise helps me with my work life balance and I am also setting a great example for my son.
Ultimately, I do the best I can on any given day and allow myself the space to not always get everything done. I know I am not alone, mothers like professional singers Mary, Mary also deal with the same type of challenges.
It's situations like these that the three-time Grammy® award-winning gospel duo Erica and Tina Campbell face in Season 2 of WE tv’s hit series Mary Mary as they balance being recording artists, mothers, and wives. MARY MARY premieres Thursday, December 6 at 10|9c and moves to its regular timeslot on Thursdays at 9|8c, beginning December 13. Watch a sneak peek here!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of WE tv. The opinions and text are all mine.
