They don't do it all. They do what's important.
We’ve seen the tired old trope in articles, commercials and television shows so many times: working moms just have too much to do. They’re chauffeuring kids around to evening practices, making lunches after said kids go to bed and staying up till the wee hours of the morning catching up on their relentless and stressful jobs. The message is clear: working moms are tired and burnt out. They don’t get enough time for themselves because they’re so busy giving it all to their families and their jobs. But does this really line up with the working mothers you know?
Here’s a secret many working mothers have figured out: less really is more. The minimalist movement—simplifying your life and stuff to gain more time—has revolutionized life as a working mother. The minimalist mom gets a full night of sleep, has time with her kids and, importantly, has time for herself. Here’s how:
1. She says no.
A minimalist mom knows her limits, her interests and what the tipping point is for herself and her family. So, she limits volunteering to what interests her and what she can reasonably fit into her life. She guards her Wednesday nights—the night she always takes off from family duties to hit a yoga class or do something for herself—fiercely. She also says no to her kids: it’s one out-of-school activity at a time and Sunday mornings are always for family. She's also mastered saying this at work: No, I can’t take your work on. No, I won’t be staying late to finish your last-minute request.
2. She knows where to spend her money for increased quality of life.
She would rather hire a bi-weekly cleaner than buy a pair of designer jeans. Weeknight meals are easy and from the slow cooker or just a simple spread of crackers, cheese and fruit. Fast food and takeout is expensive, and she’d rather spend that money on a babysitter and three courses at that new trattoria for date night. She is happy to buy the expensive snow boots for her oldest so they last through all three kids—saving not only money, but also time shopping. The kitchen renovation can wait until the youngest is out of daycare. Until then, she'd rather use fun money to buy an extra week of vacation and road trip as a family. Her spending aligns with one of her biggest values: having time for the things and people she loves.
3. She doesn't care what other people think.
Her workwear is five outfits for each season and no more. It’s professional, flattering and easy. No one notices if you've worn the same outfit for seven Tuesdays in a row. She doesn't care what grandiose delicacies are brought for the school bake sale: She brings the same delicious butter cookies (the ones that they can freeze a quadruple batch of dough for) to every event requiring a cookie or baked good. Keeping up with the Joneses—who are stressed out and broke—isn’t her thing.
4. Her kids do some things, not everything.
The family lives by a shared Google calendar and there are set rules around weekend playdates and kids' activities. Their kids have a healthy mix of structured activities and unstructured play time. She is a person first; chauffeur, playdate arranger and sideline soccer mom second.
5. She delegates like the boss that she is.
She hasn’t done kid laundry since her oldest could reach the stacked washer dryer on his own. Her husband alternates meal planning and grocery shopping with her every week and makes all the kids' dentist appointments (she does the doctor appointments). She only takes the dog for a walk when she wants to; otherwise the kids do it. When an older kid forgets his or her lunch at home, they know that they have to figure it out for themselves: raiding their stash of granola bars in their locker or borrowing money from a friend for lunch. She understands she can’t do it all, but rather, she and her family can do the basics together.
6. She knows what she and her family need (and want).
Her non-negotiables are her running group that has met every Saturday at 7 a.m. for a decade, a long weekend away with her spouse every fall and bedtime stories with the kids at least three nights a week. She knows what people and things fuel her—this makes it easy to say no to things that don’t. She has a rule for friends that invite her to those kitchen gadget/jewelry/leggings parties: if she knows the salesperson well, she’ll buy one item but won’t attend the party. Every other invitation is a no.
7. She has hard and fast rules around taking work home with her.
Her team knows that if they have something urgent after 6 p.m. they better call her. She doesn’t check email once she has left the office until 6 a.m. the next morning. When she gets home from a week of work travel, she takes a four-day weekend. Her schedule is blocked out from 4 p.m. onwards. so she isn’t scheduled into end-of-day meetings that could run long. She meditates for 10 minutes at the end of her shift so she can leave the work stress at work. She guards her personal time and mental space fiercely.
8. She views work as a break from family time and family time as a break from work.
Being mentally present and engaged at work and at home means no guilt over enjoying her balance of work and family life. She cheerfully enjoys that there’s no diapers to change for nine hours a day Monday to Friday, and when she’s home she revels in being out of her office and untethered from her phone and laptop. Learning to quickly switch gears from work, family and personal time is a skill she has mastered to simplify her life.
The minimalist working mother doesn’t do it all: she does the things that are important to her and to her family. Her list is unique to her and no one else. How she spends her time and her money directly aligns with what she values. This ethos of living her values makes it clear, fast and easy to make decisions. She knows that time is her most valuable resource and she spends it wisely at home and at work.
Written by Rachel Jonat for Working Mother and legally licensed through the Matcha publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@getmatcha.com.