If you’re a mum, then you don’t need me to tell you how time intensive and demanding children are. You love them to bits, but before you had kids you never imagined that being a working mum would be so hard and stressful.
My old life
Once upon a time I had a career. As a an administration executive and marketing manager I had jobs that were interesting, challenging, demanding and at times extremely stressful. Some days were good, some days were bad and some days were awesome. But I gave a lot of myself to be successful in the corporate roles I held – I was dedicated, hard-working and worked a lot of extra hours.
My working mum life
Now that I’m a mum my priorities have changed. I’m still dedicated and work hard, but I don’t have the extra time I used to have to stay back and finish off a task to meet a deadline. I did the ‘corporate working mum’ thing for a while – but it was hard! You are constantly under pressure – you need to finish this task today, but you also need to leave in fifteen minutes or you’ll miss the train to get to the childcare centre in time before they close. What to do?
Worse still, dropping your young toddler at the crack of dawn at childcare and they’re clutching at you and crying ‘Mummy, I want you’ or words to that effect. It breaks your heart every time.
And you do all this just to keep your job, pay your bills, develop your career and build a future for yourself and your family.
For me, this wasn’t the life I wanted. I wanted to be with my child. I wanted to teach him, watch him grow and reach his milestones, I just wanted to have fun and play with him. I didn’t want to work full time, or the hours that my boss dictated to me. What was important to me was no longer the same as what was important to my boss. I felt like I was missing out on so much of my son’s life and found myself asking if it was all worth it. There had to be a better way – and there is!
Thankfully, the PN Squad and I crossed paths and my life changed!
My new life
Using the skills I developed over the course of my working life I started my own business (a long time dream of mine) and became a freelancer. Soon after I joined the PN team. Freelancing has given me the opportunity to work from home (saving me several hours a day in travel time) and to work the hours that suit me.
But freelancing has it’s drawbacks too and that’s why working with the PN Squad is a better way to be a freelancer. Here are a working mum’s top reasons why working as a freelancer on the PN Squad is valuable:
- Stability – You will have regular ongoing work and therefore a regular income, removing the feast-famine roller coaster.
- Freedom – You can have regular work from PN, and you still have the freedom to work with other clients and grow your own business. Talk about having your cake and eating it too! Not many places allow you to have your own clients, let alone encourage it.
- Flexibility – Be a working mum when and where you like. If you can only work at night when the kids are in bed, that’s not a problem. Have a child in kinder and are trying to work around the crazy kinder schedules? That’s ok. Or maybe it’s school holidays, instead of trying to find childcare with all the extended family you can work while the kids run wild at a playcentre or whilst on holidays at the beach. All you need is a secure and reliable internet connection so you can work where and when it suits you.
- Reliability – It only takes one client who doesn’t pay for you to feel the sting – but PN has a great reputation of paying on time every month.
- Fun – Working as a freelancer can be lonely, but the PN Squad is a fun team and we get to banter with each other online. We even meet up in person a couple of times a year at the annual PN Conference.
- Helpful – Got a question or an issue with a task? No problem – the PN team can help you out.
- Career Development – You have the chance to keep using your skills and develop new ones and you are informed of industry trends and changes.
You can have it all – and stress less
You already have enough on your plate when you’re a mum and managing a household so you don’t want work to add more stress to your life. PN gives you the opportunity to be a working mum, earn an income and develop your career without adding more stress to your life.
Now I have the work life balance that I want – time for my family, time for me and time to develop my career.
Contact us to find out how you can join the PN team and be a less stressed working mum – just like me!
