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{By: Mamta Shekhawat}

Motherhood is no longer confined to homemaking. A mother has now has school runs, board meetings, home management, and personal time. While the scope of women’s roles has broadened, so has the expectation of “doing it all.” Striking a balance between professional responsibilities, children, and personal care is a challenge that modern moms face, and are finding ways to cope.

The Triple Role Juggle

The contemporary mother combines and juggles three primary roles: professional, parent, and herself.

• As professionals, meeting key performance indicators, hitting goals, and vying for promotion is a business norm.
• As parents, children need to be nurtured, cared for, and firmly guided while receiving emotional and physical management.
• As individuals, personal time, hobbies, and rest is essential and all serves the mind.

Achieving these roles requires intention, choices that balance family and personal wellness.

Challenges On The Path

1. Time Constraints

With the school pick up and drop and a professional career, many mothers are able to squeeze in only a limited amount of time for personal activities. Any professional commitments will pour over the limited family time, and family emergencies tend to conflict with professional responsibilities.

2. Guilt Factor

Many working mothers experience “mom guilt”, feeling that they aren’t fully engaging in work or spending the proper amount of time with their children.

3. Invisible Mental Load

In addition to the clear-cut chores, mothers also have to remember to do tasks such as meal prepping, scheduling appointments, as well as maintaining a number of other household functions, which are often ignored.

4. Neglected Self-Care

Due to the demands of work, parenting, or both, self-care is the first to go. Self-care is the act of protecting one’s wellness, and in its absence, one is prone to experiencing stress and burnout.

Strategies For A Better Balance

• Redefine Success: Women no longer need to experience “success” to be defined by climbing the corporate ladder, or rejoicing in parenting highlights, as they can now enjoy fulfillment and balance from both.
• Create Non-Negotiables: During work or family hours, clear limits should be respected. For instance, no work calls during family dinners or one weekend should be designated as family time.
• Share The Load: Household chores must be assigned to a partner, older children, and/or a cleaning service, if there is one. A family is only considered healthy if responsibilities are not shouldered by one partner.
• Make Self-Care A Priority: Pouring a cup of tea or reading for twenty minutes supports self-care. Regular “me time” is a vital tool toward preserving and recharging.
• Build A Support Network: Offer mental and practical, and emotional burden friends, family, and other mothers readily come to the rescue. The act of sharing experiences can be uplifting.

Changing The Conversation

Often, society praises mothers for selflessness. It is about time we change this. The best moms are those who can genuinely take care of themselves too, and family and children’s well-being is a bonus. Employers can help by providing flexible office hours and parental leaves along with a family-friendly work environment.

Selfcare is just as important as the tasks and responsibilities you take on. Expert-support and the presence of a well-planned flexible work schedule allows mothers the much-needed flexibility to thrive professionally while growing their family. Empowering mothers to take control of their self-care will allow them to reclaim their lost identity.

Life is a balance of many factors, and it can absolutely be attainable. A content and fulfilled mother is the greatest gift for a child. She effortlessly becomes a positive reinforcement of how a well-lived life can be achieved.

The author, Mamta Shekhawat, is the Founder of Gradding.com, a study abroad platform.