by Jodie the Mom | Mar 3, 2025 | Keeping Your Sanity

3 Must-Know Tips To Balance Work And Life

Balance work and life, this is the unicorn we are always chasing. While there aren’t any perfect solutions, we can work towards better days.

It is frustrating trying to balance work and life, especially for a work from home and homeschool mom. We have our work from home mom jobs, teaching our kids something, and just regular mom life things. It is a lot.

While I don’t ascribe to the traditional ideal of work life balance, you know the zen-like balance of everything in perfect order. I view balance more like juggling while walking on a tightrope. That is the balance of work and life we are trying to achieve.

I’ve struggled with this idea of balance work and life. I listened to the TedTalks and watched the Instagram reels, and it just piled on the frustration. Many of these work life balance gurus started their quest to attain the unattainable by quitting their jobs and taking time to enjoy their families.

If you can do this, then by all means enjoy. But for the rest of us, who depend on our incomes to buy the basics, like food, this isn’t an option. So are we doomed from the start? Only if we follow the gurus’ advice. Instead of trying to find this equal balance, let’s work with what we have and learn how to juggle it all on a tightrope.

I know juggling while walking a tightrope may seem hard, but we are moms, it is totally possible to balance work and life.

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The Struggle to Balance Work and Life

Technology is always supposed to make life easier, and in some ways it has, but it has also added an element of always on. We can be connected with anyone on any matter at any time. In this way, I think technology isn’t so advanced because it has removed our personal boundaries.

The lines between work and personal time are blurred now more than ever. And if you have a work from home mom job, they get even blurrier. You don’t have the luxury of walking aways from your office. You live at your office. Or your office lives in your homes. It makes it much harder to build the wall of separation.

It is a struggle to juggle your work from home mom job, homeschooling, and all the other mom life stuff. Your brain is always asking how you can improve in all these areas. What do our kids needs academically? Are we doing well with our business? Can I take a break now?

Mom, the struggle is real, but it is possible to balance work and life. It may look a little messy sometimes, but you can do it.

3 Must-Know Tips to Balance Work and Life

We know that working and homeschooling can feel overwhelming at times. And you need to find what works for you, but here are my top three tips that will work for any mom with any schedule. Your day-to-day balance of work life will look different from mine, but we will all have these elements in our quest to balance work and life.

1. Set priorities and boundaries

We live and work in the same place, so we have to know what our priorities are and set personal boundaries. These are non-negotiables to balance work and life.

Your priorities are the things that are most important to get done. These can change from day to day, but there will also be overlap. For example, homeschool will be a priority for most days. Unless it is a day you decided to take off, then something else will be a priority for that day.

Here’s the reality of it all, you can’t do everything. You may have a really long to do list, and most of the time I do to. Depending on how much time things take, you will probably only be able to get a few things done per day. Identify those things that are most important to you and laser focus on them.

Setting personal boundaries with your work from home mom job will also help to create balance in the force. Something as simple as setting a time when you clock out and sticking to it, will be a game changer for to balance work and life.

At the end of the day, I turn my computer off and it doesn’t come back on until the next morning. This is my closed sign. I also avoid turning it on during my days off. During my days off, I will use my phone or ipad if I need to surf the web. I keep my personal email separate from my work email on my mobile devices. So I have to make a conscience decision to check work email.

Knowing what your priorities are for the day and setting personal boundaries are the main tools you need to balance work and life.

2. Master time management

Juggling and walking a tightrope requires precision timing. And mastering time management for moms who work from home is necessary. However, there are so many systems out there it can be hard to know what will work for you. Should you try time blocking? Or a time budget? A schedule? A routine? It is easy to get caught up in all the things you should do that you miss what really works for you.

I am all about creating routines because they just work for us. When you have a large family the ease of every one knowing what to do keeps things running smoothly. It isn’t perfect, but nothing is ever perfect. But routines help to free up brain space, so I can ruminate on things that really matter instead of wondering if they brushed their teeth.

While routines are our perfect solution, something else might work better for you and your family. Consider your personality and your kids? How do you prefer to get it all done? It is ok to even try a hybrid solution. The important thing is that it works for you.

Homeschooling and working from home gives you the freedom to work and school on your own terms. Mastering time management is an essential tool to balance work and life. But it is a tool that has to work for you. Don’t try to fit into someone else’s box. Find your out of the box solution.

3. Be flexible

However you find your work life balance, it is necessary to be flexible. We are moms. It doesn’t matter how well we planned our day, there is always room for things to go off the rails. Yes, you need to get stuff done, but being flexible will help to take the stress off your shoulders.

I know I am the worst person to give this advice because I hate it when my carefully laid plans get hijacked by life. How dare life throw a curve ball. But it happens. So if you are like me, then let’s help each other to be more flexible.

We have kids and that means the unexpected can happen. It doesn’t always happen, but we need to understand that it will.

Being flexible is going to help avoid frustration. It will help you to handle disruptions when they come, and maybe not get quite as stressed out…we can hope.

This is one of the main reasons I like to create routines throughout the day. They help to build in flexibility in the day and eliminates the stress of the plans going off the rails.

Conclusion: Balance Work and Life

Trying to balance work and life doesn’t mean striving for perfection. It is finding that harmony between all the mom things you do…as you juggle while walking on a tightrope.

Work life balance is not an end goal. It isn’t something that will be reached one day, and then you never think about it again. It is a daily tasks. Some days will be better than others, but find you balance in the moment.

Do you need help getting started? Then check out my schedule vs routine course because it is the only thing that has ever worked for me.

FAQ: Balance Work and Life

Q: Can I achieve work life balance while working from home?

Yes, absolutely! By setting boundaries, mastering time management, and being flexible, working from home can actually provide more freedom to achieve balance.

Q: How do I manage work life balance with kids?

Balancing work and life with kids requires flexibility, clear communication, and routines that work for the entire household. Involve your kids in planning and set expectations for when you need focused work time.

Q: What if my job demands too much of my time?

If your job is consuming most of your time, have an open conversation with your employer about your workload. Focus on prioritizing tasks and ensure you’re managing your time efficiently. If the demands are unreasonable, it might be worth considering if this job aligns with your long-term goals.