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While businesses and societies are becoming a lot more amenable and accustomed to the idea of old and tired role definitions being overturned, it will never be simple to juggle a career and a family, no matter how ambitious and capable the woman. The guilt alone at the idea of letting their children down as a result of fulfilling their duties is not something anyone would bear lightly.

Family first

As important as your working life might be, you will always feel unsuccessful unless your family is getting the attention it deserves. It is possible to make simple adjustments in order to make your family life more fulfilling. It is not about how much time you spend with your family, but how the time you do have with them is spent. Quantity, as we have been told, does not always translate into quality. It is possible that a working mother who spends one hour of quality time with her child can establish a bond as great as one who is with her child all day. Now, you might feel the pressure to cram too many activities into this precious free time, but this is unnecessary. Simple activities like sharing a meal, playing a game or something as uncomplicated as simply listening to your child could be enough to guarantee the child’s positive emotional and social development.

Keep a weekly planner

This simple good practice will allow you to effectively organise your time, and tell at a glance if you are likely to over extend yourself. Ideally a weekly planner will put a stop to those sleepless nights, worrying about whether you’ve forgotten an important school function, or whether you are in danger of missing a deadline. Prioritise your activities and ensure the most important activities have the most primacy, likewise treat less urgent tasks accordingly. Try to delegate where possible. It is often impossible to be everywhere and do everything, so enlist help among family members and trusted colleagues. Remember, it is not a sign of weakness to ask for help, especially not if it means you are then able to accomplish your most crucial tasks.

Simple, but effective

Try to buy and cook in bulk. Stock up on non-perishables, frozen foods and other household supplies to reduce unnecessary trips to the shop. Utilise Internet shopping wherever possible. When cooking, consider extra portions that can be frozen and eaten at a later date, possibly during a particularly stressful crunch period at work. When your workload is heaviest, try to come home to spend time with your children and finish your work once they’ve been put to bed. Your child doesn’t need to be molly coddled, but they do need to be aware that you are available when needed and that you are a parent who loves and cares for them.

Try and designate some of your free time as family time. As formal as it sounds, treat your children as you would your clients: schedule time as you would for a business engagement, and furnish your children with the same levels of attention and thought that you would for an important work engagement. Your time with your family is not supposed to be a chore, so when it’s family time, make sure you focus on family not work.

Schedule date nights with your partner, he or she also deserves dedicated time too. These are all simple little tricks that considered on their own might be considered a bit silly, but when added up, can really help you feel closer as a family. Remember to always make your family feel like a team, when one individual needs support, the rest must be available.

Remember your own needs

Too often a working mother feels obligated to lose sleep or leisure time in favour of work or kids. It is important to realise is that you will never be as equipped to handle all of the responsibilities on your plate if you are not properly rested and fulfilled. It is possible that by the time you have arrived at work, you’ve already been busy for hours – fixing breakfasts, packing lunches, looking for lost socks, checking homework… It’s no wonder that by the time you return home after a long day’s work, you’re overtired, frustrated and borderline hysterical. To avoid the inevitable conflict this will inspire, plan for a Sunday lie-in, a night out with friends, or take some time out for a well-deserved pampering.

The necessity that requires that you work for a living should never encourage guilt. Your children and your partner should be aware that you have made this choice in order to afford a better quality of life for your loved ones, and if they don’t, perhaps it is a discussion you need to have. Of course you can’t substitute a mother’s love for all the gifts and money in the world, but a mother’s love doesn’t pay for horse-riding lessons, new cricket gear or the best education. Children need to be aware that certain sacrifices are a sad reality of life, but if you all pull together, that reality could make dreams come true.