Being a mom is a wonderful feeling. It is also one of the most difficult times in your life, especially if you’re a mom to young kids. Ask any woman who’s been a mom and no one would say that it was easy, and yet, you won’t find anyone who says that it wasn’t worth it and is something they won’t do all over again. It’s just one of those things that is only truly appreciable when you have actually experienced it.
Given how challenging it can be to keep children in check, almost every mother out there develops a knack for certain stuff that is very useful inside as well as outside the house. If you’ve been, or currently are, a mom to young children, you can probably list every single habit or skill you have developed since having children. And the fun thing is, some of these skills can be very useful if you decide to go back to work.
Going Back to Work After Maternity Leave
The decision to go back to work after an absence due to maternity leave isn’t an easy one. You are now tasked not only with the needs and wants of your children every day, but also the ever-increasing demands of office life. Juggling the two can be quite tricky, and it is understandable how some women make the decision to not pursue their career any further after having children.
However, if you do decide to carry on down your career path after becoming a mom, expect to bring some new skills to the table. At a cursory glance, these skills might not appear too obvious or even that helpful, but they can and surely will transform your office life and make you all the more efficient at your job. And these are all skills you’d have picked up because of looking after little Tim or Janet back home.
You Will be Able to Read People Much Better
After having looked after a child for so long, you will realize you have become much more proficient at being able to tell what a person is thinking, and what they really want relative to what they say. Sure, there is a difference between how well a toddler can hide their emotions versus an adult, but there is always that intrinsic reaction to news that betray a person’s feelings and you will now be much better at rooting it out.
Even subtle things like the shiftiness of someone’s eyes, or how tense they seem when talking about something, would become second nature for you to accurately read. You’ll be able to not only root out falsehoods, but also be able to tell when a client isn’t as satisfied as they want to be. All of this would allow for a much better end result because you’ll be able to address what someone is thinking when they’re thinking it.
You’ll Become a Pro at Time Management
Because of having gotten used to scheduling your whole day around the needs and wants of your children, you will find that you have become that much more adept at managing your time when you finally go back to work. You will realize that you’re not even half as lazy as you used to be, and you’ll cut down procrastination drastically.
You’ll also realize that after having juggled your children’s days for so long, you can now plan whole weeks ahead with your eyes closed. You will much more accurately be able to make estimations for how long something will take, and you will also realize that you’ve gotten much better at multitasking. So now you’ll be doing multiple things at once at double the speed that you used to have before.
You Will Have Much Better Planning Skills
Remember all those hectic family outings and trips that you went on with your children? Those moments have honed your event planning skills so sharply you’ll surprise even yourself, let alone your coworkers and boss. You’ll find yourself much more conceptually aware of how long something should be expected to take, as well as how many events you can comfortably fit within a given time frame without it becoming too difficult to manage.
You Will Have Much Better Communication Skills
Much like being able to read body language and facial expressions better, you will also have vastly improved your ability to communicate with people. Children and adults are only different on how they express themselves to a point, and now you will know just how to approach any given matter with any kind of person to achieve your desired outcome.
This will naturally lead to more satisfied clients and coworkers, to a boss that is much more appreciative of your efforts regarding proper communication with them as well as the clients. You will also find yourself being much better at being able to negotiate deals, all because you learned some basic psychological tricks while you were caring for your children at home.
Your Problem-Solving Skills Will Have Improved
As a mother, you will have faced some unique challenges and problems that you would have never even known existed before you had children. All of those challenges will ultimately teach you how best to approach a new problem that you have no idea what to do about. And this will translate to higher quality of work at your office as well as much faster solutions to any given problems.
You Will Have Become a Much Better Budget Organizer
After having had to squeeze in all the things you need to frequently buy for children, you will be much more aware of how to properly manage your budget regarding how much to spend on specific things and which expenditures to avoid completely. This will lead not only to better even organization and other budget-related improvements at work, but also to much better planning for your paycheck. So, whenever your next promotion rolls around, you’ll have much higher levels of self-control and will know exactly where and where not to spend your hard-earned money.
You Will Know Better What to Prioritize
Remember back when you didn’t have kids and used to get stumped after being handed multiple tasks at work? No more! A mother is a natural expert when it comes to managing priorities. Born of the multitasking at home where mothers have to continually decide which child’s which activity or need requires more urgent attention than the others, this skill that you would have developed will be extremely helpful when you go back to work and are handed a multitude of tasks to get done. Now, you’ll know exactly how to tackle them all to achieve the most optimum result.
Conclusion
Being a mother is hard, time-consuming, and sometimes quite scary when you’re unsure of what exactly to do. But this phase of your life will only end with you coming out of it stronger, sharper, and smarter than ever before. In the meantime, if you want some help with anything else regarding housework as a mom, be sure to check out our post on making house cleaning easier or our post on tips for grocery shopping on a budget.