Balancing motherhood and a creative life: 3 tips
I love being a mother. I love my son and the joy he brings into my life. However, it can be difficult to balance motherhood with other aspects of life. For example, when I'm not with my son, I'm usually working on my business or thinking about creating content for this blog, and that takes up a lot of time in my day. This is especially true when you're just starting out as a content creator and building your business; there are so many things you have to do! If you're struggling with finding ways to balance motherhood with your creative passions (whether they be writing or otherwise), here are some tips that might help:
Don't be afraid to make the first step.
As a mother, I'm a little skeptical of going outside my comfort zone. It's scary to put yourself out there and try something new when you're not sure how it will turn out. But the only way forward is by making that first step, even if it feels like you are going to make fools of yourself. In fact, when we start small and aim for excellence in our work but don't expect ourselves to be perfect from the beginning (there's no such thing!), we can actually be more successful than if we tried too hard or not at all. We'll feel less pressure about getting things right, which makes us more creative and productive in general because there is no pressure on us!
We will get better with practice; so don't worry about messing up too much at first—just keep working at it until your skills are where they need to be before you show anyone else what you've created! And remember: no one is perfect right away! Even professional artists had moments where their work wasn't up-to-par... but they kept practicing anyway because they loved doing what they did no matter what happened during each project cycle.
Be real.
Here's my first tip: be real. That was a hard lesson for me to learn, but once I did, I feel like I opened up a lot of possibilities my own imagination for how I could balance motherhood and my creative life.
I used to feel like there was some sort of standard of what "good" mothers were supposed to do - namely, do all the things all the time, compare everything you do with what you read or see online and never really have your own time or energy.
I knew that this wasn't realistic—not just because it would take away all my free time (and then some), but also because we can't expect ourselves or other parents to live up to impossible standards. We're all doing our best—that's all anyone can ask! But what if you find yourself doubting whether your best is good enough?
That's my second tip: don't compare yourself with others! It doesn't matter what other people are doing; you need only focus on yourself and your unique situation.
It's okay if it sucks.
I know it can be hard to feel like you're doing a good job while you're sitting at home with your kids, but it's okay to have a bad day. You will get through it, and then it will be over. No one else knows what goes on inside your head or in the rest of your life (and if they say they do, don't believe them) .It is not worth worrying about what other people think about how much time you spend working on your projects or how well you balance being a mom and an artist—not even for a minute. There are things that are out of our control—and there will always be something that comes up! The only thing that matters is that as long as we're doing our best day by day, everything will work out fine no matter how things appear from the outside looking in.
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You can do this. You might be afraid, but you can do it.
It's okay to be scared. We've all been there, and we're here to tell you that it's normal! But don't let fear get in the way of your dreams; if we were able to do this whole “thriving as a mother while still being creative” thing, so can you! Just start small with one thing at a time until eventually, you'll find yourself feeling more confident about balancing motherhood and creativity than ever before.
I'm not going to lie--it can be hard to balance motherhood and a creative life. But I am here to tell you that I’m going to treat it like it's possible, and there are so many resources out there for moms who want to pursue their passions! The key is finding what works best for you and your family. For me, this means carving out time every day where I can work on my writing and blogging projects without interruption. And if that means setting up shop in the bathroom, then so be it! ;)