For the first few years of my career as a work-at-home mom, I honestly thought that I had the best of every world. I got to be at home with my wonderful baby, bonding with her, teaching her, and caring for her. I spent many a night typing up articles while nursing her to sleep, constantly thankful that I could do two incredibly important jobs at the exact same time.
But now, three and a half years into my job as a mother and my job as a writer, those moments of blissful best-of-both-worlds concede into moments of what-the-heck-am-I-doing. What was once an unbelievably satisfying career seems stagnant and unaccomplished. It was because of this stage in my career -- work-at-home mom burnout -- that I almost surrendered my dream career in favor of a far less flexible, far less lucrative job.
Other freelancing parents I know have suffered from this same experience. Work-at-home-mom burnout is a very real, very common phenomenon -- and, if we don't overcome it, it can cost us our livelihoods. Here are some tips for avoiding work-at-home mom burnout.
1. Get to work. To me, the best tool for overcoming WAHM burnout was to get my butt to work. Days of Facebooking and news-reading while simply writing in the background don't feel like work -- they feel suspiciously like laziness, and they're a great way to completely ruin your career. We work-at-home moms have the luxury of setting our own schedules, but we'll end up fading into oblivion if we fail to actually act upon those schedules.
2. Spend time away from your children. It's easy enough to burn out as a stay-at-home mom if you never have time away from your kids. When you couple that with never being away from your in-home job, you've got a recipe for utter disaster. Who wouldn't become burned out after spending weeks, months, or even years juggling a constant stream of childcare and career-duties, all at the same time? Whether by school, daycare, a babysitter, or your spouse, make time to be apart from your kids while you work. When you do this, you'll appreciate both your kids and your job on a deeper and more complete level.
3. Give yourself a break. Even the greatest of supermoms can't juggle constant childcare and constant work, with no breaks for free-time and fun. Cut yourself some slack and take a few hours, or a few days, to simply have fun. And no, your "day off" doesn't mean a day spent doing laundry and vacuuming the playroom floor. Work-at-home moms need date nights, weekend vacations, margaritas, and TV -- days just like everyone else on earth. These breaks are essential to your sanity, and to preventing WAHM burnout.
4. Leave your house.
It's all too easy to fall into the pattern of working all day in your pajamas, on your couch -- but you can't do that. At least, you can't do that unless you're prepared to accept burnout as a very real possibility for your career. A monotone life with no sunlight and no new scenery will leave you feeling depressed and unaccomplished. You don't have to work at home to be a work-at-home mom. You can also be a work-at-cafe mom, a work-at-the-library mom, or a work-in-the-park mom.
5. Branch out your career. Burnout is inevitable if your career stays the exact same for years on end, whether you work from home or work in a conventional setting. If you spend every single day making the exact same cloth diapers, writing about the exact same subject, or creating near-identical works of art, you need to branch out. Learn a new craft, write about a new topic, offer a new product, or study a new skill. The fact that you are in control of your own career means that it is open to any new changes you want to create.
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