One of the key questions many new moms face is what to do with themselves after they have their first child.
While for some mothers, getting back into the frame of mind to think about work as they knew it before childbirth is not easy, for many career women, that is often not a choice.
The stark economic reality today often requires the contributions of both parents to balance the family budget and make ends meet.
For single mothers, it is even worse. Economic survival is often the single most important consideration with what to do after childbirth.
So should I pursue hobbies for stay at home moms or decide to go back to work?
Or can you even get the time for any of these?
The short answer to this question is it depends: The decision to pursue hobbies as a stay at home mom or to go back to work will depend on a number of issues such as how flexible your job is to accommodate you, your skill level, the economic situation of your family and if you are a single mom whether you have an alternative source of income to sustain you if you decide not to go back to work.
That is the short answer. So now let us look into it in greater detail.
When you have a kid and parenting becomes your primary job, you immediately discover that it is everything but easy. You constantly have to deal with errands like dropping and picking them at any of their various engagements as well as handle never-ending chores like laundry.
You are very lucky if you get some time to sleep, let alone to focus on something else you love.
However, research shows that hobbies benefit your creative, physical, self-improvement, social, interpersonal, mental and emotional states.
There are numerous types of hobbies for stay at home moms depending on your passions and capabilities.
What are the alternatives for hobbies for stay at home moms?
Should Stay at Home Moms Go Back to Work?
As an alternative to hobbies for stay at home moms, going back to work might be one of the things you have been mulling over ever since you gave birth.
You have been trying to establish the right time to go back to work and how exactly to make the transition.
Perhaps you are even at the stage of deciding whether you really need to go back to work. It all depends on your situation and aspirations as both going back to work and getting busy doing some hobbies while staying at home are advantageous in different aspects.
Consider the following tips to help you make a great decision;
- What is your overall financial picture? This might be the factor that carries the biggest weight especially considering the fact that now you have an additional financial burden. You will need to pay for additional food, daycare, medical benefits, college bills, and life insurance amongst numerous others. A financial advisor can help align your family’s finances and identify the expenses you can afford to eliminate. You also need to know how much your family needs and whether you have to go back to work to help generate more income
- How does your partner feel about it? If you have a partner it is important to discuss the issue with them and decide together what is best for your family. You should communicate your concerns, thoughts, and feelings related to the decision to prevent future conflicts. Decide also on each other’s responsibilities as you acknowledge and accept the common decision
- How is the work environment and what benefits are offered? Your priorities change right after giving birth but that does not mean your work will be any less important if you choose to go back to it. As you will have to balance both you should figure out whether your company supports working parents and the kinds of benefits they offer. You may need to have a conversation with your employer about your situation if you feel that they need to do more to accommodate working mothers
Before you go back to work you need to research about the child care options available.
The daycare options may even apply to hobbies as well as some hobbies for stay at home moms require more time than others.
This means going into the details about the kind of care offered, the cost of the care, and whether you are confident and comfortable about having someone else taking care of your kid.
Some of the options include a daycare facility, a family member a friend, or an in-house nanny.
You may also want to explore some opportunities to make money from stay at home jobs for moms like yourself as shown in the YouTube video below:
Why Can’t I Stop Procrastinating?
Procrastination might be one of those things that lazily crept into your life as you adjust to being a stay at home mom.
As you wonder whether stay at home moms should go back to work you might be procrastinating and doing nothing instead.
Back when you had a full-time career it may have been very easy for you to know what you needed to do and get it done on time. However, when your baby became your ultimate priority suddenly all other things seemed less important. After all, it is psychologically normal to only focus on only what is right in front of you.
This might be why you may have been putting off getting started on a hobby or working even when you have to.
The other reason could be constant feelings of being overwhelmed, disorganized, or confused.
Taking care of children, especially in their youngest years, can be draining. It could leave you procrastinating as you don’t know where to start or even how to get to the next step of a hobby or starting to work again.
How a Stop Procrastinating App can Help
If there is one thing your Smartphone can’t help you with it’s the things that you do not want to do.
However, that does not stop you from using the phone to make yourself more effective in the work you do.
There are even apps that can help you get better control over your procrastination habit.
Here are some of the apps you should consider;
- Focus @ Will. This app relies on music to motivate you to keep on working. Science has proven that music has an incredible power that can influence you to focus on any activity and this is why it is a great accompaniment to workout sessions
- 1-3-5 List. This app allows you to make a list and prioritize various activities or things depending on their importance. If you have no idea where to start all you have to do is choose 3 medium activities and 5 little things you want to accomplish every day. You then tick them off during the day as you get them done. It keeps you accountable and prevents you from handling everything altogether which causes failure
- Procraster. This app prompts you to identify the things that make you procrastinate and break down the idea you have into simpler bits. It then guides you into a process of completing your idea in an encouraging manner
As you deliberate on whether stay at home moms should start working again, you might have a lot banked on your career besides income generation.
You may be craving the networks you got used to in your workplace or even the feeling of being productive in an office setting.
On the other hand, you may be dreading the day you have to go back to work.
Consider all the feelings you have about the issue to know if it is the perfect time to start working again.
“How does your partner feel about it? If you have a partner it is important to discuss the issue with them and decide together what is best for your family”
Benefits of Procrastination
Despite the bad reputation and guilt associated with procrastination, it does have some positive effects.
Some of the most profound include;
- Boosting creativity. Even when you delay doing a particular task your brain continues to think about it and may devise an innovative way to do it
- Avoidance of unnecessary effort. When you have a lot to do, it is not necessarily every task that might be essential to handle. If you put it off you could end up avoiding working hard on something that was not important
- Enjoying what you love. When you put off certain things you have more time to deal with what you enjoy
“Consider all the feelings you have about the issue to know if it is the perfect time to start working”
Many stay at home moms take up fibre and textile craft as a hobby
Conclusion: Considering Hobbies for Stay AT Home Moms
Should stay at home moms go back to work?
It all depends on your situation and dreams. As a mom, it can be hectic to raise your children and this may make you sometimes even have no time for a hobby.
Yet there are many hobbies for stay at home moms that can generate the cashflow required for sustenance of both the mother and child
This does not mean that you should overlook one as it has numerous benefits for your overall state as a human being.
This also includes your plan to start working again if you prefer to. You need a mechanism of knowing whether you are ready. When you know that you are ready, ensure that you are not putting it off.
If you are, a why can’t I stop procrastinating app could come in handy.
However, sometimes procrastination can help you get more creative or avoid unnecessary effort.
So what has been your experience pursuing hobbies as a stay at home mom? Have you had any success?
We would like to hear from you!
Send us your feedback by sharing your experience using the comment box below.
You may also be interested in learning about some online income ideas and how to earn money as a single mom
