Advice: Returning to Work After Maternity Leave

It’s been six months now since I returned to work at Mason Alexander after almost a year off, and while it’s been challenging in some aspects, I’ve also been pleasantly surprised by how quickly I’ve settled back into business as usual.

Like most new mothers, for me, the hardest part was going from spending 24 hours with your little human, to trying to make the most of a couple of hours of quality time you have to spend with them in the mornings and evenings. This, coupled with trying to re-establish yourself within the corporate world, is an ongoing process and can be extremely daunting at first, but as the weeks went by, I found it easier to get that balance right.

Here are a few things that I found helpful along the way.

Manage Expectations

In the weeks leading to my return to work, I found myself worrying about if I could still do my job and be able to get the balance right between work and family life. I found communicating with my peers and Manager to set some expectations in terms of what I hoped I could achieve in my first week / month / quarter, and what support or flexibility I needed to succeed. Some people might find a phased return to work the best option for them, and others prefer to just dive straight in. Either way, it’s important that both you and your employer are on the same page and know what to expect, and what you require from each other.

Set boundaries

As most working parents need to factor in time throughout their day for childcare drop-offs, school runs, etc, it can be a good idea to block off time in your calendar and let your colleagues and clients know that meetings before 9am or after 5pm are no longer possible. Define your work hours and stick to them. This for me has been one of the most important learnings and has hugely helped with getting the balance right and making the most of those core work hours.

Reconnect

I’ve heard a lot of women say that they felt somewhat disconnected from their colleagues after returning to work, which is not surprising after being out of the loop for such a long time. In my first two weeks back, I set aside time each day to catch up with my old teammates and getting to know all the amazing new people who had joined the team since I left. And whilst being able to work from home has made life so much easier to manage work life and home life, getting back into the office even once a week, and meeting people in person over a coffee or a nice lunch out (always a bonus!) has really helped me settle in nicely and re-establish myself as part of the team.

Take your time

As if mom guilt wasn’t difficult enough to navigate, I know a lot of people returning to work put that added pressure on themselves to somehow magically be able to pick up where they left off. I remember my first day back I spent most of my day trying to get logged back into my laptop which didn’t help the lack of confidence I had in myself. My advice is to accept that it will take several weeks, or even months before you’re up to speed with everything, and most good employers will be fully supportive and understanding of this.

Be flexible

As much as you might like to think that your return-to-work plan will go smoothly, it doesn’t always happen that way. The reality is so many things can happen in those first few weeks and months, meaning returning to work can be very different from what you were expecting. Childcare plans can fall through, and it’s pretty much a given that babies tend to pick up every bug going once they start mingling at creche, and this really can set you back. Expect the unexpected and take a flexible approach and make changes where or when needed. Again, most employers are there to support you through these eventualities. It’s all about taking time to find out what works best.

I’m extremely lucky to work for a company who not only offers great flexibility around work hours, the opportunity to work from anywhere, and our 4-hour Fridays, but also genuinely want each and every person to find a way that works for them so they can succeed in their career, and provide great support along the way.

If you’re struggling to get the balance right after maternity leave and need to find a more flexible option that works for you and your family, why not give us a shout. We’d be very happy to help you find something more flexible where you won’t need to compromise on your work-life balance.