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Working mom burnout: Six coping advice to lessen the stress
Dealing with everyday life can be tiring especially if you’re a mom. There are so many things that you have to accomplish in a day. Add the stress and pressure, and you’ll surely burn out and would just want to sleep all day.
Luckily, there are practices that you can try. Here are some ways you cope with stress to avoid being burned out.
- Ditch perfection, welcome creativity!
Throw perfection off. Honestly, it’s getting you nowhere, and it’s a big action blocker.
Expecting perfection, especially when you have so many demands on your day, will stop good things from getting done. Committing to ongoing improvement doesn’t mean striving for perfection every moment.
Creativity, on the other hand, makes you think and act on better ways to survive and thrive as a working mother. It’s as they say, don’t work hard, work smart!
- Learn to trust your kids
This one can be so hard but we have to trust our kids out there and we can start by giving them the right tools. Drowning in responsibility can make you forget to trust your kids and their ability to solve problems and enjoy themselves positively.
As parents, we are constantly trying to set up an environment where our children can thrive. But trying your best to set up ways where your kids can develop themselves responsibly might not always end up as you had envisioned. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong! Parent the way that’s right for you.
- Thank your supporters and recognize when you have support
Luckily, the world is becoming a place where people start to understand more of everybody’s everyday lives. We are becoming more open to what others are experiencing thus creating countless support groups for every life aspect that we can think of.
Support for working moms is becoming more accepted. There are increasing numbers of advocates for working moms. This helps ease the burden and can even influence HR policies.
On the other side, if you’re in management ask: Will I recognide the signs of struggle when I am dealing with a working parent/caretaker? If I see a mom struggling at work, what am I doing as a manager or as an organization to help?
From the answers that unfold, we can build a safe space where working moms and parents can feel safe at their workplace in every condition or situation.
By showing moms you care about their needs, you can help empower them to continue juggling their work and home lives in a way that works best for them.
- Be aware of what gives you energy
As a working mom, burnout is inevitable as you juggle work and chores the whole day. So we’ll need to recharge our energies and fill back your cup. It can be: Your kid’s hug, a laugh with a co-worker, things that go right, good ideas for the job, nice and appreciated activities with your family.
Those moments can do wonders when you’re depleted. Try to find satisfaction and thankfulness for your job and your co-workers or people who support you in your job. If what gives you energy is to scramble for more flexible measures, then do it!
- Know when to rest and take care of yourself
This one is the hardest, both emotionally and practically. You can’t pour from an empty cup, and you know that. But at the same time, you might not know how to refill or step into a more balanced way of being a working mother.
There are many ways to take care of yourself: Take moments for yourself, rest, work out, empty your mind for some time, give yourself pampering sessions. Doing what you love and prioritise them. Always Remember that it’s okay to preserve your energy! You don’t need to stress about being a working mom by doing everything.
- Use the skills you already have that are transferable
Successfully dealing with multiple priorities is a skill you learned being a tired working mom. It has been useful in both motherhood and even in the workplace but it’s not the only one you have! You also possess: Patience, communication, problem-solving mastery, creativity.
These are skills you can use for parenting and working as well as for creating meaningful relationships with others. This is a huge emotional lifesaver you can use when you feel overwhelmed and exhausted! Remembering everything you’re capable of is an important mental safety net. Remind yourself,
Final Thoughts
Taking care of yourself, recharging, and giving yourself a moment of grace and self-rest is a huge ‘breathe in and breathe out’ reminder when you are feeling burnout. Being aware and connected to enjoyment in every moment pushes your creativity forward.
Being a mom is hard. Being a working mom is even harder. The world is changing fast, puts more demands, but also opens new doors and creates more resources.
The employer mindset regarding working mothers is slowly changing, and different services are been created to support mothers and help them to adapt to new circumstances, from meditation apps to online scheduling solutions.
Allow the way you juggle work and motherhood to evolve as the world evolves. Using these simple techniques will help you to get a piece of mind and enjoy the most important and the most incredible job ever – being a mom of course! — lifehack.org
THE typical itinerant salesman in Sikaman is a herbalist. He is normally a slim macho with the capacity to perambulate the expanse of area covering the triangle of Accra-Tema-Ashiaman. In short, he can walk a total of 60 miles a day, marketing a product that cures every disease, including poverty. 
The door-to-door herbal pharmacist advertises his product by word of mouth. He has nothing to do with the Food and Drugs Board (FDB). After all, his concoctions do not feature on FM stations.
Those herbalists who cannot walk to propagate the herbal gospel, liaise with drivers of mass transportation and their mates. They are, therefore, given the chance to sell their products on Benz buses that ply the routes.
Normally, the herbalist starts his sales message with a prayer and Bible study. He asks the passengers to bow down their heads in supplication to God the father, the son, the Holy Spirit.
When a herbalist asks the passengers to close their eyes and bow their heads, Moslems on board naturally feel offended. They feel that the herbalist has no right to assume that every passenger is a Christian. They think such an assumption is an affront to Islam.
So a Moslem on board will raise the hand for a point of order. He’ll remind the herbalist that it would be in his own interest to mind his language.
“Be careful the way you address people in a public place. Not every person here is a Christian,” he’d state assertively.
Of course, the herbalist will promptly ignore him, but would all the same “watch” his tongue. Who knows whether or not the Moslem brother is inspired by Quoranic zeal to defend the tenets of Islam to the hilt?
When he starts saying, “Wallahi!” and “Inshallah!” it could be the beginning of proclaiming Islam as supreme, a point which must be driven home with talibanic precision.
So the herbalist must tread carefully lest he steps on fire.
The herbalist could even add a measure of mirth to it all, by announcing that Christians on board today have very interesting company on the journey, but that should not detract from the business of the day.
The Moslem brother will weigh the words carefully and offer a wry smile.
He must be careful the occasion does not degenerate into the use of semantics and proverbial oration to deride his conviction that public utterances must be mindful of religious sensibilities. He has made his point very clear and expects that it is taken in good faith in the interest of a peaceful journey.
The herbalist will now open the New Testament and preach salvation, stating clearly that salvation can come only through Jesus Christ and NOBODY else.
The Moslem brother will now start twitching his moustache. The visible and almost revolutionary reflexes of his upper lip can be an indication that sentiments have begun superseding reason, and the outcome could well be tragic now shift uneasily in his seat.
The time has come for him to also express his right to the religion of his fore-bears. He’ll put his hand into his pocket and rise to his feet. The time has indeed come!
This article was first published on Saturday, September 9, 2006
When the cause of a particular problem like sickness, disease, sudden illness, a social issue etc. are not known, it stands to reason that resolving it becomes a huge challenge.
Citizens would understand the government when public announcements are made to the effect that government is trying to find a solution to the issue, even though it is taking a while for it to be resolved because citizens are rational beings.
On the other hand, if the solution to a particular issue is known to everybody but the government for whatever reason, is dragging its feet in resolving it, citizens become frustrated and begin to lose trust in their leaders.
One such issue is the heavy traffic along a section of the Kasoa – Odokor road. A short stretch of bad road between the traffic light at the Weija Government Hospital and the entrance to the entrance of the overhead that leads to the N1, is the cause of the problem but nothing is being done about it, day after day, week after week, month after month. Thus is clearly unacceptable.
Another issue that requires urgent attention is the lack of pavements along a lot of streets in parts of the various Municipal Assemblies. Exercise is a prerequisite for long life and healthy living and for those of us who it has become a way of life, this issue of people putting up structures right to the edge of the drains beside the roads, are making life difficult for us.
We are compelled to walk along the roads, putting our lives at serious risk. Pedestrians should never be compelled to compete with vehicles on our streets and roads. Roads and streets are made for vehicles and pavements are made for pedestrians. That is the norm. Any attempt to normalise a situation where pedestrians are mingling with vehicles is insanity.
It is the road regulations that makes it so and therefore district or municipal assemblies are to take responsibility and ensure that spaces for pavements are not encroached upon. Citizens have rights that must be protected by their leaders and making pavements available to pedestrians, is one of them.
When we hear of teachers having sex with students, it appears it is something recent. It is not a new phenomenon. It has been there since Adam. Perhaps this issue is getting much attention due to the proliferation of social media. It was an open secret in times past when Teachers were in relationships with female students and some married them immediately after completion of school.
Some teachers were also known to be having unholy interactions with female pupils but due to the times that these acts occurred, human rights issues and the awareness around it, allowed such unscrupulous teachers to get away with their crimes.
Now we are in a different era and so a Headmaster is now in hot waters. He is alleged to have raped about 19 female students and as usual, some officials tried to cover it up and are also in hot waters and their actions or inactions in the matter are under investigation.
Why the man has been allowed to roam freely without being arrested is simply mind boggling. It appears that the law applies differently, depending on who you are. This issue came to public attention sometime in August this year, yet the police had not arrested or invited this man for question regarding the rape allegation.
It has come out that he is a Constituency Secretary of the ruling party and the question in the public domain is that, is it because he is a political figure that is why he is still walking around without questioning? I believe in the rule of law so let us hold our breadth and let the proper thing be done.
The police must however be seen to be active in this matter. God bless.
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