Every working mother faces the challenge of doing two full-time jobs simultaneously. The first job is being a mother, which by the way is an instinct she is born with, and the second job is the work she does to earn money. Unfortunately, things become more complicated for women after a divorce or separation. This is because living as a single parent family is itself a huge challenge as she now has to manage work with family alone. If you find yourself in such a situation, don’t panic. Patience, a steady head, and some strength is all you need to do just fine.

Planning is Important

You may have good parenting skills, but if you want to run a single parent family successfully, then you need much more than that. The most important thing single mothers is planning. You must plan everything beforehand. For instance, you may cook a few dishes for the coming week on Sunday evening and then freeze them. Do laundry work and other chores either early morning or late night. You may wake up an hour earlier as it is the best time to get done with chores without having to worry about getting distracted by the kids.

Make Notes and Develop a Schedule

With so many things on mind, there are very high chances that you forget important things like parent teacher meeting, kid’s dentist appointment, etc. It is best to keep a diary, or a cell phone app where you note down all the things you have to do. You may also enlist them according to their level of urgency. Also important is developing a proper schedule for everything from office work to performing home tasks. It is best to do laundry, cooking, shopping, and other such tasks on weekends so that you can focus on job during the week. The most important thing single mothers should make sure is that they should not remain distracted at work, worrying about the household chores and their kids.

Consider Working from Home

Managing domestic tasks and going to work makes your routine tough, leaving no time for relaxation. If you think that your home, especially kids, are getting affected and feeling neglected respective due to your job, which is highly likely, then it is best for you to do work from home. A large number of organizations allow its employees to work from home. Consult your HR team to discuss this. If your current employer can facilitate you then it is great, otherwise its best for you to start looking for online jobs. There are thousands of online jobs for literally every field and for every skill set.

Get Help from Friends and Family

Ask teens to make their bed after waking up. Also assign them different duties like washing dishes, pressing uniform, making lunch, etc. Ask the elder kid to help younger siblings with their homework. In the same way, do not hesitate to take help from friends and family. If you have too much workload, then ask your brother or father to pick the kids from school and take care of them for a while. If you have to attend an important official event, then request a friend to babysit your kids. You may return the favor once you get the opportunity.

Last but not the least, don’t try to be perfect. You are a human being, not a machine. So sometime it’s okay to make mistake or two. Also avoid taking too much stress over little things as it is not good for your health. You need to take extra care of yourself because your kids are depending on you and need you around as fit and healthy as possible.