Work It, Mom!

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What I envy in other moms

I know envy is bad, I do. But it’s kind of like butter — I know it’s not healthy, but I can’t help but indulge at times...

Published May 06, 2008 PermaLink

• May 05, 2008

  Recovering from a hellish week with small weekend luxuries

  If I’ve learned anything during the past year it’s that life as an entrepreneur is literally like a roller-coaster — it’s either up or down, with very few plateaus in between. The last few weeks have been tough, for a number of reasons, and I’m feeling it. I’m exhausted, I’m cranky, I’m not very fun to be around (unless you’re my laptop, in which case you’re getting plenty of love.) And in my effort to find some more balance — ha! — between my work and my life outside of work, I decided that I needed to uses this weekend to recover a bit...
  

• May 02, 2008

  Work-life balance, the marriage edition

  I had lunch with a friend recently whose husband has been offered an amazing job… abroad. They have both worked abroad before and loved it, but this was before they had two kids. My friend had a super successful career in business before she took a bit of time off to be a mom, but has spent the last few years starting up a business of her own. It was just starting to pick up steam when this awesome job offer for her husband came through...
  

• April 17, 2008

  Lack of sleep: When juggling work and family leaves no room for sleep, what should give?

  On a good night I get 6 hours of uninterrupted sleep. In a great-once-in-a-random-while night I get 7-8 hours of sleep. Most nights, I sleep for about 5 hours. I know this isn’t enough and I don’t need any experts to tell me that.

  I am tired, a lot, my eyes burn, often, I need some type of caffeine to get through the day (tea, lately) and my lack of proper sleep combined with lots of other stuff (like, apparently, not breathing enough) is beginning to cause some health issues. On days when my sleep deficit is high I get less done and am less focused.

  I have every reason to do it, so why don’t I prioritize getting more sleep? ...
  

• April 15, 2008

  If money wasn’t an issue, would you choose a different career?

  I know this is a completely theoretical question for 99.9% of us, but I like to think about it anyway.

  I spent the last 10 years of my career, before launching Work It, Mom!, doing work that was interesting, stimulating, often exciting, but work that I was not passionate about. Due to a lot of factors, not the least of which is being an immigrant to this country, I’ve always known that I needed to support myself and in addition, be able to help my parents (and my grandparents), if possible. This meant that I chose my career path with money very much in mind...
  

• April 14, 2008

  My one tiny victory over stress

  I don’t know about you, but I am horrible about dealing with stress. It always wins. I know it’s an issue, I know it’s not healthy, and I know I should spend more time following advice about reducing stress that Karen M. generously shares over at the Catch Your Breath blog.

  So when I have a minor victory and prevent stress from completely taking over my life I feel like I should share it...
  

• April 09, 2008

  Is part-time work worse for work-life balance?

  Almost every working mom I know who works full-time has told me that she would love to do her job but on a part-time basis. And according to a survey that came out last year, nearly 80% of women want to work part-time. Part-time work seems to be an ideal, most coveted arrangement for working moms — one that would allow us enough time to pursue our career ambitions and spend time with our kids and families.

  But according to new Australian study (thanks Elizabeth for this heads up!) the reality of part-time work is far from what we might idealize it to be...
  

• April 08, 2008

  How to get motivated at work when you’re really unmotivated

  First, a confession: I am really unmotivated to work today.

  This is rare. Correction, this has been rare since I changed careers and started doing something I actually enjoy. But I’m human, it happens, and the fact that I’ve been sick for days and have just returned from a business-trip-turned-weekend-away-with-my-husband to face a pile of to-dos definitely has something to do with it. Oh, and the fact that just as I was trying to get energized to start working this morning the Internet died didn’t help much...
  

• April 03, 2008

  Do another working mom a favor — tell her how imperfect your life is

  I had coffee the other day with a friend of a friend. Since we moved my friends have been really kind introducing me to their friends in the area and I always jump at the opportunity. We had a really nice talk and after I got home there was an email from the friend who introduced us, saying how much this woman liked me and how together she said I seemed.

  I literally almost spit up the water I was drinking when I read that because I was having one of those days you really want to forget...
  

• April 01, 2008

  My 5 golden rules of networking...

  I know, you’re thinking “OK, Nataly, why don’t you tell us how you really feel about networking?”

  But in all seriousness, I feel that networking is a task that we — and yes, by this huge generalization, I mean we = women — overlook most often and don’t do enough of in our careers, businesses, and life in general. I know this from my personal experiences and from those of my female colleagues and friends. I am sure there are plenty of reasons for it, but this post isn’t about that. It is about what I’ve learned about networking and my desire to encourage you to make it a regular part of our routine, whatever your career or business might be. Believe me when I say it’s really good for you...
  

• March 27, 2008

  Learning to squeeze out more quality out of quality time with my daughter

  Many times when I mention to someone my guilt about not spending enough time with my daughter they say to focus on the quality of time I spend with her vs. quantity. I always nod not just to be polite but because I believe that quality does matter and kids don’t sit there with clocks keeping track of how many hours a day we spend with them...