Emily Stark, a coach for women in career and life transitions, and I have known each other for a few years. I love what she shares on LinkedIn; it’s helpful and soooo relevant. I was thrilled she was willing to share some thoughts with the Mompowerment community. The idea of helping working mamas build an on-ramp for work to boost productivity and set boundaries is such a great insight! Check out Emily’s thoughts to learn more and get some new ideas.
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“You’ve done more before 8 am than I do all day,” my friend, Allison, told me as she sipped her coffee. She was visiting, and her eyes had been darting around the kitchen while I carried breakfast dishes, helped my son to the potty, and wiped up spills, all while holding multiple conversations. “What? Really? Just a normal morning,” I responded as I plopped down in the chair beside her for a quick reprieve before taking my son to school and wrapping my mind around my workday.
It happens overnight; it’s the shift from a calm morning centered around what we need as individuals to the busy dynamics of a mother’s morning. Noting this change is a transition within itself. Then adding a list of work tasks can be troublesome because the brain is taxed after a busy morning of switching between multiple tasks. Several clients I’ve coached over the years have shared struggles starting their days after a chaotic morning, pointing to brain fog and mental exhaustion holding them back from starting their workday strong. Neuroscientists have found that multitasking can cause our brains to tire out, making us less efficient and prone to losing focus. For working parents, a morning without multitasking seems impossible.
So what can we do to help repair the task traffic of a family’s morning routine and funnel it into a more focused mindset for a workday?
When you build an on-ramp for work to boost productivity and set boundaries, it’s a way to transition from busy morning to workday. Our brains need the opportunity to code-switch. Different tasks to be tackled and problems to solve at work deserve mental preparation to do them well.
This will look different for everyone, but here’s a general framework to start constructing an on-ramp for work that feels good for you. Please note that you may want to factor in an exploration time to assess what works and doesn’t before you integrate a new on-ramp into your routine. And even once it’s up and running, there will be days when the on-ramp doesn’t happen, and that’s ok; it’ll be there when you’re ready to return to it.
What’s on the Work Road
Most of the moms I work with begin their days one of two ways: jumping right in or sitting in a brain fog for about 5-10 minutes before shuffling into their work. Both approaches neglect the preparation our minds and bodies need and deserve.
Reviewing your calendar, writing down your top priorities, or visualizing what your day will look like are all ways to help your thoughts detach from a busy morning and focus on your workday, helping your brain build a tunnel to focus on what’s ahead.
Set up Guardrails
There is a difference between being available for family (having phone/email nearby in case of an emergency) and allowing your devices and notifications to compromise your focus time. It’s critical to set up clear boundaries that help you refrain from wasting time on unnecessary time traps.
Not to mention, research has shown that rapidly changing content and constant interruptions reduce our capacity to pay attention. We have all asked ourselves, “Now, what was I doing?” Set boundaries to help you keep on track and realize what needs your attention in your work time frame. Commit to focus time to help strengthen mental muscles for attention. Work tasks can be an ideal place to exercise your focus, and our society needs them. Digital media researcher Dr. Gloria Mark found that the average attention span has decreased by half the time (an average of 90 seconds in 2004 to 47 seconds in recent years). Establish guardrails and create a work environment that prioritizes focus-building to yield more productivity and potentially reap confidence because of it.
Merge Onto your On-ramp
Signaling to yourself that you’re entering your workday informs your mind that it’s ready to change from a busy morning to a different type of productivity necessary for work. Rituals can take a habit like starting a workday and make them more meaningful. Jessi Hempel of LinkedIn’s Hello Monday podcast talks about a shift in her productivity as a result of adding a brief ritual to her writing goal. She observes one minute of silence, lights a candle, and begins her workday. Then, when the writing time ends, she blows out the candle, and then goes on with the rest of her day. In the podcast, Hempel talks with Michael Norton, a psychologist who studies rituals. He describes rituals as a habit with more of an emotional connection. What could a small start-a-workday ritual look like for you?
Taking a moment before work to review our tasks, preparing our space for focus, and moving through a brief ritual would take about three minutes and potentially save us countless minutes, maybe even hours. Not to mention, this shift brings an intentional energy of focus and purpose into our workday.
Now you have some new ideas to help you build an on-ramp for work to boost productivity and set boundaries. How do you currently separate your family’s morning routine from your workday? How will these tips help you change that? And what benefits can you see from making this change?
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Emily is an ICF-ACC credentialed coach with over seven years of experience coaching in higher education, executive outplacement, corporate wellness, and her private practice. Emily writes about various topics to extend support for women in career and life transitions. Her work has been featured in Harvard Business Review, The Muse, Fairygodboss, and more. Learn more and set up an intro call with Emily at www.wraparoundreturn.com.
