The Handy Diary of a Working Mom

In North American work culture, the caricature may look a little bit like this whether or not you’re a Handy employee: Woman comes into work with a grande cup of coffee—the strongest type with the most caffeine. She quickly looks through her e-mails and answers them here and there. Then she makes her way over to her 10 AM meeting in which it takes thirty minutes to get to one definitive answer on how they will progress their business. Fast forward to lunch time where the work office girl boss is eating her healthy salad while hastily typing away at her computer or revising her colleagues’ work. She may have a child at day care, so she’ll call in at 1PM to see how her baby is doing since she still has separation anxiety. After her call, she’ll grab a quick coffee from the cafeteria with her favorite co-workers, discussing a new HR policy that just came through her inbox this morning. Then she’ll check her phone for the scheduled appointment with her Handy cleaning professional so that she can ensure that she will arrive home to a spic and span space for her and her toddler. Perhaps she has two hours to drill down on a research report for one of her clients, and then another half hour to prepare a business proposal.

All of this is to say, there are a few things you can do to feel happier at work when you’re away from your daughter or son. First of all, you need to give yourself time to take a break every now and again and also hydrate yourself with lemon water and a healthy diet. If you want to feel more concentrated at work, then you should avoid cafeteria food and pack healthy food options such as Greek yogurt, cucumbers and unsalted nuts as an alternative.

Another method to stay healthy is to move. This can mean taking a short break between longer tasks to do a few sun salutations in the comfort of your own office, or if you haven’t made it to the corner office yet then go on a quick 10-minute walk outside for a breath of fresh air. Get your blood pumping, you’ll find yourself with a great number of creative ideas when you get back to your desk.