Juggle Struggle blog

In case you’re missing out on the Juggle Struggle podcast episodes from the start of 2024, here’s a little round-up of each episode: 

My guest in the first ever episode was Kerry; who I’ve known since University! We discussed negotiating for a higher salary when coming back to work after maternity leave, and turning up the “crap filter” to full power because when you’re a working parent “you just don’t have time for the nonsense.”  

Kerry reflected on the challenges of returning to work after a long absence, like meeting new team members and adapting to changes in the work culture. She also let us in on her approach to negotiating for a higher salary and how she was able to successfully secure the amount she wanted. Do it over the phone so you can put yourself on mute! “I said the number. And then put myself on mute!”

She stressed the importance of delegating tasks at work, and how she has learned to use digital tools to make her work more efficient., “I just don’t think people will use the power of delegation enough. And that’s what I do. And actually at the minute, it’s working.” 

Kerry’s tactics at work mean that she can make sure she’s out of that office on time at the end of the working day; “People talk about hard deadlines before they’ve had a baby. I’m sorry, getting home to pick up the kid from nursery, that is the hardest deadline.”

Kerry also touched on the importance of finding a balance between work and family life, and of carving out time for fun and self-care.”I feel like now, with childcare sorted, people know what they’re doing and where they’re going, and I know the job now, I feel like, okay, now I can start carving out my happy spaces again.”  

Kerry’s story is all about resilience and adaptability and she is kicking ass at juggling the struggle. 

In episode two, I spoke with Chloe, an IT Project Manager and mother of two, about her two quite different experiences of returning to work after maternity leave. Chloe shared her struggles with delayed postnatal depression, the difficulty of telling her workplace that she wasn’t ready to come back, and coping with “mum guilt.” 

Chloe’s first pregnancy was during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown period in the UK and we talked about the challenges of navigating both pregnancy and a remote return-to-work while working from home during that time; “Within a year, a company can really change. And I don’t think anyone prepares you for that.”

Chloe recalled how it felt to know you’re not ready to go back to work after maternity leave yet and how she approached it by simply being direct;  “I think I knew I wasn’t ready to go back. I think when you first have the baby anyway, you just, you’re looking at them like, how could I ever leave you?”.

She reflected on the importance of self-care and taking time for herself, and how this helped her feel more prepared for her return to work after having her second child., “I think one thing I’ve like really prepared for is self-care and making sure I’m healthy and happy and I go to the gym and I do things by myself…all of those little things, I think, prepared me better for going back to work.”

We also discussed the importance of communication and being upfront with family and colleagues about her needs and the day to day pressures of working parent life: .”Now, Connor and I sit down and I say these are the things I need you to do this week in the house, or with the kids, or whatever it is, and being comfortable to say, actually, I can’t do all of this.”  

Chloe has learned to be kind to herself and we talked about not letting being a mum define her or hold her back;, “I will do well, I hope, but in my own time, and it’s not the be-all and end-all – happy, healthy children is so much more important.”

I think Chloe’s story is a reminder that it’s okay to ask for help and take time for yourself, and that everyone’s journey is unique. 

Episode 3 of the Juggle Struggle podcast had me speaking with Aimee, who works mostly from home for an environmental NGO. Amy’s back-to-work journey after having a baby saw her face a few challenges around balancing work and parenting. “It was tough, but I was lucky to have a supportive workplace,” says Amy.

Aimee was still breastfeeding when she went back to work, and luckily her workplace was set up to support that.  “I was able to pump at work and store my milk, which made a huge difference,” 

We spoke a lot about the importance of raising awareness about the challenges of parenting and returning to work, and the need for more support and understanding from employers. “It’s important for employers to understand that returning to work after having a child is a huge transition.” She shared her own experiences of feeling anxious about returning to work and the pressure to perform well despite the challenges of parenting; “We might’ve already been up for five hours before we’ve even started our day job.”

Aimee regularly works from home and we also discussed how it’s easy to get drawn into mum duties during your working hours at home. We touched on how mums take on a lot of the parenting mental load, which can be a lot to juggle: “this is generalization, but. generally speaking, the mental load and the admin and just the general day to day stuff tends to fall on me. And I’m sure other mums would potentially agree that happens to them as well.”

Aimee told me that if she was doing it all again she’d try not to put so much pressure on herself to do brilliantly at everything all the time; “actually, you’re not a superhero…doing your best is best enough.” 

If you like the sound of all these podcasts you can get them over on Podbean and Spotify. Please leave your comments and questions, and if you’ve got a story to tell on the podcast you can email me at lyndsay@jugglestruggle.net!