Going back to work can be a time full of anxiety, worry, stress, uncertainty and panic. But it can also be a time of new beginnings, excitement, adrenaline and relief.
No matter how you are feeling here are my top 10 tips for women who are preparing for a confident return to work after maternity leave
1. Spend some time revisiting your strengths
and what your uniqueness brings to an organisation - your employer is lucky to have you. Your strengths still exist even if you have had a break from the workplace. Remind yourself of these when you are lacking in confidence.
2. Recognise your maternity leave has enabled you to develop new skills
you might now be better at prioritising, more empathetic or a better listener. Think about how your new skills can translate back into the workplace
3. Rediscover your identity by getting clear on your core values
if you know what these are then you will have greater awareness about what is important to you and it will help you make decisions. Do some brainstorming or talk it through with a coach or friend. Aim to have a shortlist of 5.
4. Manage your guilt to a level that suits you
Now that you are a parent there is a whole new raft of emotions that comes with that responsibility, trying to get rid of guilt all together could be setting you up for failure. Acknowledge that it exists and remind yourself why work is important to you and your family in a bid to manage it to an appropriate level.
5. Don’t overfill your stress bucket
Have a look at all of the things that you may have been doing on maternity leave that you now won’t have the capacity to fulfil – childcare, shopping, food planning etc and get your support network in place. Start delegating tasks out.
6. Consider phasing your return to work
you may have the opportunity to work on a part time basis to begin with, or you could use some holiday to have one day of the week off. Another thing you could do is start mid-week so your first week back is a short one.
7. Have a dry run
get your morning and evening operating rhythm nailed down. Practice how you are going to get all of you showered, dressed and out of the house on time.
8. Use kit days wisely
you can have work up to 10 paid days during your maternity leave. Plan how you may want to spend these – it could be networking, attending a conference, training or meeting with your line manager to discuss your return to work. It doesn’t have to be a whole day, even a half day or couple of hours would count as a whole kit day
9. Prepare in advance for conversations you may need to have
write down what you want to say, be specific, offer a solution, use factual language. Practice what you are going to say.
10 – Work out who is going to look after your child if they are sick
in the first few week once you have returned. Its normal for children to catch a cold or a bug when they are in a new childcare setting so if you can arrange for someone other than you to be on back up if your child falls ill you can hopefully guarantee a couple of distraction free weeks back.
For more support with your return to work after maternity leave or a career break sign up to The Pulse newsletters for your bi-weekly dose of career development support
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