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Balancing Act: Thriving as a Full-Time Working Mom

Thriving as a Full-Time Working Mom

Being a wife, mother, and career professional can pull you in many directions. In addition to raising a family and growing your career, you have many other responsibilities: errands, laundry, meal planning, and keeping everything in your household running smoothly each day. 

Managing all these obligations, especially when you don’t get enough help, can quickly lead to feeling overwhelmed. However, it doesn’t have to be that way. By creating more efficiencies in your life and getting some professional help, you can improve your work-life balance and do more of the things you love.

The Challenges of Being a Working Mom and Wife

Full-time working moms are often still responsible for managing the bulk of childcare and household management activities. A Gallup study found that, in both single- and dual-income homes, women are significantly more likely than men to be responsible for chores such as doing laundry, preparing meals, caring for children, and cleaning the home.

Additionally, because moms are responsible for so many of these activities, they also carry more of the associated mental load of invisible tasks such as planning, anticipating, following up, and decision-making.

For many women, the pressure to do it all and be a “supermom” can result in feelings of stress, overwhelm, and burnout. In fact, an estimated 42 percent of working moms have been diagnosed with anxiety or depression—far more than the general population (28 percent).

[Related: Will More Free Time Bring You Joy?]

Tips for Saving Time, Reducing Your Stress, and Achieving Better Balance

If you’re feeling overwhelmed as a mother and wife, you don’t have to spend your days feeling exhausted, overworked, or paralyzed by a messy house. You can take the following steps to transform your life and get more time for what matters most:

1. Set meaningful goals.

To address the stressors in your life, it’s critical to identify them and set goals for your ideal future state. You can get started by making a list of all the things you love to do and those you detest and would love to get off your plate entirely

For instance, if you feel grocery shopping and running errands take up too much time, you can create a goal to reduce the time those tasks take—perhaps by ordering online or limiting errands to a specific number of times per month. Once you’ve established your goals, you can prioritize them and commit to making the changes that turn those goals into reality.

2. Create efficiencies in everyday tasks.

Though you may have performed certain chores the same way for years, it’s worth considering that there might be a more efficient way to get them done. For example, you may find that meal planning simplifies grocery shopping and meal prep, and creating a home maintenance schedule helps to cut down on the number of calls for repairs. 

Sometimes, the only way to know if something works for you is to try it. Once you’ve identified strategies to streamline tasks and eliminate unnecessary steps, you can implement your new approach for a week or two to assess its impact. Even the smallest tweaks can significantly improve how you spend your time.

[Related: Stay On Top of These 5 Kinds of Appointments With a Personal Assistant

3. Get household help.

If you’ve been responsible for managing everything around the home, kids’ schedules, and family activities, it can be challenging to let go and consider outsourcing some of those tasks. However, when you do, you can tackle your to-do list and get more time for the priorities you’ve set for yourself—whether it’s to spend more quality family time, dedicate yourself to more philanthropic work, or have more time for self-care.

Outsourcing chores to a household assistant is an excellent way to get reliable, professional help for everyday chores and home projects. Household assistants aren’t just for celebrities and the superrich; you, too, can have an assistant to perform any of the following:

  • Doing laundry and dropping off/picking up dry cleaning
  • Making and rescheduling appointments
  • Planning, prepping, and cleaning up after meals
  • Shopping for groceries
  • Making returns
  • Caring for pets and taking them to the vet
  • Planning travel
  • Managing home renovation and redecorating projects
  • Managing and supervising vendors

Say Goodbye to Feeling Overwhelmed as a Mom and Wife

If there’s a disconnect between where you want to dedicate your energy and passion and how you actually spend your time, it’s time for a change. While you can create new efficiencies with some tasks, there may be others you want to offload completely. A household assistant can help you do that and much more, allowing you to take ownership of your time and enjoy your life more fully. 

To see all you can achieve with professional household help, check out our guide, What Your Life Could Look Like with a Household Assistant.

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Pepper’s Personal Assistant Reviews

See what it’s really like to work with a Pepper’s personal assistant!

Proactive, Reliable, Caring Support

“Sarah has been such a reliable support—always proactive, spotting things that need to be done before I even ask, and taking care of them. She has such a positive attitude and is constantly looking for ways to add value and make things easier. And I love how much happier and more spoiled my dogs are thanks to her care. I barely have to think about her day-to-day, and I mean that in the best way possible!”

K.W.

Exceptional Home Management

“Bernice is simply amazing—I just can’t say enough good things about her. She excels at physical tasks and knows my habits so well that she can anticipate my needs without me even saying anything. As a house manager, she’s exceptional; she takes care of all those little things that I wouldn’t even think of. Over time, we’ve developed a wonderful rhythm, and it’s such a relief to have someone who just knows what needs to be done and does it effortlessly.”

J.H.

Exceeding Expectations Every Day

“My PA has truly exceeded my expectations. I really enjoy coming home now because everything in my home is something I know and love. She’s helped me with tasks I didn’t even know where to begin, and her ability to do the background work and present options has been invaluable. She has made it possible for me to manage things without feeling overwhelmed, and it’s been a game changer for me!”

W.W.

Bringing Joy and Efficiency

“My PA Tess is proactive and handles everything beautifully, from small tasks that bring joy to big projects like planning trips. She balances recurring tasks with high-priority work, and everything gets done perfectly. I didn’t realize how much joy small things like making the bed could bring until Tess started doing them. She has truly made a difference in our home, bringing both efficiency and a level of organization and joy we didn’t realize we needed.”

K.H.

Support That Makes a Difference

“Having Missa as a PA has taken me from daily treading water to swimming to the shore. I’ve gone from never quite keeping up with things to actually having extra energy to do more. She has been a tremendous help, reducing my stress and allowing me to rest and recover. The support I receive is perfect; Missa is a 5 out of 5 in meeting all my needs. I’ve already recommended Pepper’s to a few friends because having extra help makes all the difference.”

Kathy M.

Back-to-School Unmatched Support

“Having Jay as my personal assistant has been fantastic. She helps me tackle projects that were just looming over my head and has built a great rapport with my teenage son. She’s helped my son pick out his back-to-school wardrobe and coached him through decisions — I couldn’t ask for better support. I sometimes think about when I could handle everything on my own, but now I can’t imagine doing it without Jay’s help.”

R.B.

PA to the Rescue

“I am very satisfied with my personal assistant. The biggest relief is knowing that when things get hectic with work my PA is there to help us from lighting on fire, especially when one of us is traveling.”

Ana V.

Dream PA Experience

“I am very satisfied; My PA has everything dialed in and the schedule works really well and is flexible when needed. Honestly: My PA and I click very well, I love it, it’s a dream!”

Jodi K.

Stress-Free Travel

“One of the massive benefits of having a PA is during travel disruptions. When flights are delayed, the kids are upset, and you’re stuck in customs, coming home to a stocked fridge and a prepared meal eliminates the need for a late-night milk run. You don’t realize the stress these tasks add until you have someone to handle them for you.”

A.S.

11/10!

“My PA is incredible—an 11 out of 10—really thoughtful, thorough, intuitive. She is professional but friendly; she has just been great. A couple of times because of things going on with her calendar, Kandis has been flexible—coming 15 minutes later to drop the dog off at puppy play. She has been really great.”

Libby

Thoughtful and Detail-Oriented

“My PA is a thoughtful and discerning assistant. She pays attention to details in our home and makes great suggestions for how to improve and optimize our lives. We trust her judgment, and she communicates proactively and frequently. She is always on-site on time and patient with my unpredictable schedule. We communicate frequently, but she’s also very efficient in how we communicate. Great work!”

Client

Super Happy!

“[I] really do think Kandis is setting the bar! Having a new person come into your house can go either way. [I’m] very grateful for the time and energy and people that Pepper’s has. It’s a big step; no suggestions around onboarding. [I’m] really happy that we were able to board Kandis quickly; super happy for the West Seattle support.”

Libby

Organizing Superhero

“My PA is really good at organizing; it’s one of her superpowers. Some of the simple reorganizing things that she has done have made a big impact. She organized all the cat stuff in the garage and took the initiative on her own. She’s bright and cheery—no moaning, whining. Very great.”

Emma

One of the Best Decisions I’ve Made

“I just wanted to take a few minutes to tell you how much I have appreciated working with all of the Pepper’s staff. My assistant is so generous and thoughtful — she brings value to every interaction. I can’t remember a time when I’ve hired anyone with such a professional and high standard of customer service. Working with you all has been one of the best decisions I’ve made in a very long time!”

Libby

10/10 for Sure!

“Missa is a 10/10 for sure! She has been wonderful, and we check in regularly. I’m comfortable communicating with her about questions or requests, and she’s always been very responsive and also seems comfortable checking in if she has any questions for me. [The] biggest help remains pet care and household chores support, plus the help with one-off projects that come up. Missa has all kinds of skills she brings, (e.g., she’s currently putting together a ‘cat highway’ for the living room rafters).”

Homeowner

My Quality of Life Has Improved

“I used to spend every weekend and every evening doing chores and running errands. Now, I’m able to spend the time that I need to on my business, and then I get to enjoy my home and my life and the precious unstructured time that I have. The truth is, my quality of life has improved by having a Pepper’s household assistant here.”

Libby

Takes Initiative

“I want to mention what a fantastic personal assistant Billie is to me. We were on vacation last week, and she managed my household and vendors flawlessly. I even had her redecorate my office, and I gave her very little direction other than just to make it nice and functional, and, my goodness, did she ever! She takes initiative in my house in so many other ways but does not overstep or overspend. To strike that balance is really something unique and special. I feel really lucky to have her.”

Anura

I’m Blown Away

“[I’m] blown away by how much better the house looks already :)”

Graham

Kind, Caring, and Proactive

“My PA is a very caring person. I was incredibly ill last year, and my PA connected the dots that the washing machine had a lot of mold and thought the black specs on my clothes were from that. On her own time, my PA sent me an article about the impact of mold/washing machines. It was so kind of her.”

Emma

Goes Above and Beyond

“My PA has gone above and beyond. She’s organized my laundry room while keeping on top of laundry, which made it much easier to stay on top of stuff. She’s always ready to jump in and tackle items. It made this holiday season way less stressful.”

Andrea