You probably already know that 2+ million women left the workforce in 2020. What you might not know is that 1.4 million working mothers left the workforce during the pandemic. Many employers are willing to provide more flexibility for employees since there is a shortage of workers as the economy has blossomed. So how can you find or create a more flexible opportunity to take advantage of this situation? Is it time for change for you as a working mom? Is it time to find a new employer or change up your client roster? Let’s set you up for success to make the right changes for your needs.
Pause first
Before you jump to action if you think you want a change, take an intentional pause to catch your breath. Stop moving so fast and take a moment to move past the overwhelm of working motherhood. Don’t take action for the sake of taking action. Recenter yourself first. Make the effort to understand if you’re having a moment of frustration at work or home (or in the balance between) or if you do actually want to make a change. It’s easy to jump to action. After all, as working moms we’re almost always in motion. A pause helps you get to the right decisions for your situation the first time. I discuss this idea of a pause a lot more in a post on the blog.
Do the inner work first
You realize you’re ready for change and that it’s not that you’re having a bad week. Now what? Start with the inner work. You want to dig into the why and what. You want to make sure you’re making the right moves to be strategic with your time and energy.
Understand first why you want this change. Is your employer not providing the flexibility you need? Are you realizing you’re ready to uplevel your career or business as your youngest child starts Kindergarten and you’ll have more?
Start with asking why. And then ask it a few more times to get to the heart of what’s really driving the change. You’ll have an idea of when asking why is enough. And that last answer to why is the underlying motivation behind why you want to start making changes.
Now, let’s move on to what you want to change. Be specific. It’s not “I want to spend more time with my kids.” Maybe it’s “I want to take my kids to their afternoon activities and coach their soccer team.” It could be “I want to be home in the afternoons to help my child with homework because he/she fell behind academically during the pandemic.” Or it’s something like “I want to be home to make a healthy dinner each night so that we can get on the right track with our wellness goals.” It might help to visualize what you want your life to look like so that you find an employer to support your vision or find the right clients.
Then look at how you’ll use your time when you make the changes. Actually break down your schedule. Looking at how you’ll spend your time can help.
Engage your network (Part 2 of your inner work)
Whether it’s a small change or a major pivot, you don’t have to make it happen alone. Your significant other, family, friends, and network can help. Tell them how, though. Especially when it comes to your network, think through who the right contacts are. Especially if you want to find another employer, start with networking. It’s easier to find new roles, whether internally or externally at an employer if you network. In fact, networking was the #1 tip from the 110+ working moms I interviewed for the Mompowerment books as the way to create greater balance in your life.
How to find employers to support what you want as a working mom
Once you’ve done the inner work, it’s time to find employers that support what you want from your life. (We’ll talk about finding the right clients next.) There are absolutely family-friendly employers out there.
Where can you get more information about a company? Look at the company website. What does the company share in its investor information? Consider company policies and resources (e.g., women’s or working parents employee resource group (ERG). Have conversations with people you know or with people connected to your network in some way. Some great tools to find the next layer out on your network are LinkedIn, Facebook, or the directory at the alma mater. Look at interviews with senior women at the organization in other publications. How do they describe their lives? Has that changed over time? You want official and unofficial information about the company and how it treats employees. If you want additional thoughts on finding family-friendly employers, read my article in Harvard Business Review.
Set yourself up to succeed as an entrepreneur
What about those who want to start a business? About 38 percent of the working mothers I interviewed for the Mompowerment books were entrepreneurs. Yes, many of them were at the point where they could be picky, but they didn’t all have that experience from the start. Many of them had to build a business, which isn’t always a balance-friendly process initially. Over time you can absolutely get to your desired level of balance, but it definitely takes time.
To find clients with a similar mindset be open and honest with how you do business. Put boundaries in place to help you. For example, let clients know if you’re not available after you pick up kids from school unless you know at least 72 hours ahead of time (or even a week). If it’s not an emergency, don’t feel the need to answer emails from a client sent at 10pm. Have processes and procedures in place for how you communicate and do business. Include these types of things in your contracts (e.g., availability, addressing emergencies, turnaround time, etc.).
Looking at the question of is it time for change for you as a working mom and realizing you need some help with the inner work? I’ve got your covered. Download my free Know Your Why Guide. I walk you through the process and questions and give you some more ideas so that you find the right options for your needs the first time. I’d love to hear more about what changes you’re wanting to make and where you’re struggling. Let me know in the comments.
