How to make working from home structured and enjoyable (without having to give up on “me” & family time)

Being a (fairly new) working mum has been one of my biggest challenges so far. When my son turned one year old I decided not to go back to my previous employee life and fully focus on my own businesses: heiter magazine and my consulting agency (for small fashion and lifestyle brands). There were lots of ups and downs at the beginning. The childminder we initially picked to look after J turned out to be unreliable and I often ended up having him at home whilst trying to reply to emails and social media comments. It didn’t feel great, especially because I hated the thought of him seeing me in front of a screen all the time. He was still quite little at that point and it was pretty much impossible to do any housework next to him either, let alone doing something for myself. I used every nap time to work and catch up on doing the dishes, washing etc. and I often ended up continuing with it all once he was up. I felt so guilty. First of all, for not being present when I spent time with him. Second of all, because I was constantly stressed and nothing seemed to get done properly. Luckily, things started to shift about 6 months in. I managed to do some mindset work and accept that being imperfect is ok. Furthermore, my husband and I managed to find a daycare spot for J and after a few weeks of adjusting, he started to love going there. I also created a routine for myself during the daycare hours and that now helps me to be laser-focused, productive and most importantly, present once my husband and son are back home. I’d like to share that routine with you today and hope that you’ll find it useful.

My routine: 10 points that help me to maintain a work-life balance

1) As soon as my boys leave for work & daycare in the morning, I tidy up the breakfast stuff/kitchen and then give myself a few minutes for a self-love meditation and a bit of gentle yoga. That way I won’t forget to look after myself.

2) I make an effort and get ready for work as soon as I am done with point 1. I treat the day as a “normal work day”, even though I work from home. I shower, brush my teeth, get dressed and put make-up on. Doing that sets the mood and I have the right mindset to work through my to-do list.

3) I have fixed working hours as well as themed working days (see below for more info) and I stick to them. Outside my working hours I have out of office replies on so that I have no need to feel guilty for not replying to emails on afternoons and weekends.

4) I put my phone to the side so that I cannot get distracted by social media or text messages. It’s on loud though, in case there are important calls.

5) If I get texts or calls that are not important, I have a little text template prepared so that I can tell people that I am not available but can get back to them afterwards.

6) I write a to-do list each week and prioritise each individual task that is on there. The most important tasks, priority 1 ones, are the ones I work through first. 2s and 3s can be potentially be moved to the next day or later in the week in case I run out of time. I am very understanding with myself here: I don’t beat myself up for not getting everything in one go (like I used to do when working in a competitive and overly productive cooperate workplace). It makes such a big difference.

7) I don’t compromise anymore. I used to plan around other people and often ended up accepting calls and online meetings on evenings. My husband (who had just come home from work) then had to look after my son. I felt guilty and my husband was frustrated. It wasn’t great for our relationship and family life, and that is why I now only plan in work stuff during my working hours.

8) I purposely put all my work things away before I pick up my son from daycare. That way I don’t get tempted to open up my laptop again.

9) I plan our meals one week in advance (together with my husband) which makes going shopping easier and I don’t have to worry about what to cook during work or family time. All the ingredients are already in my cupboard & fridge and I don’t spend a lot of time guessing. On a side note, I love cooking and it’s part of my heiter activities. It usually helps me to relax and wind down, and that is why I look forward to it (most of the time). Knowing that I do something heiter and not just a chore, has really helped with my energy levels and mood.

10) I only post on social media in the evening. J is in bed by then and my hubby watches a programme he likes. I used to post in the morning and yes, I had more engagement on my individual posts but doing that often resulted in social media eating up the the majority of my working time (even though, there’s more to my business than social media). Now I have better boundaries in place and posting doesn’t clash with our family time anymore either.

My themed working days:

Monday: my Mondays are not as strict as my other working days. I work for about 2-3 hours (usually on content creation) in the morning and then leave room for meeting friends, self-care or other feel-good activities.

Tuesday: my consulting day with 1o1 calls, workshops and if time allows, a few external projects

Wednesday: my day for all sorts of heiter admin. I might also do some content planning that day, schedule FB posts and upload new Pinterest pins.

Thursday: the day for all other heiter things such as heiter people chats, writing, image sourcing, collaborations, contributor calls but also a bit of personal development

Friday: a non-working day that I spend with my son. Now & then I have a call with my business coach in the evening. She is based in the US and my husband and I have an agreement that he looks after J during those calls.

My biggest learnings from being a working mum:

- It is ok to ask for help. Now, that we have J at daycare (rather than just with a childminder), we see so many positives in him going there. He spends time with other kids and is exposed to all sorts of creative and educational activities which he really enjoys. It also allows me to be the mum my son deserves: a mum that has a better work-life balance. A mum that is happier and much more relaxed :).

- It is important to be kind to and plan in “feel-good” activities for myself. That way I can fully function, be productive during work and enjoy my family life.

- It is ok to be imperfect. I run my business my way. I set boundaries and if I have to move my tasks to other days/times that is perfectly fine too.

- It is ok to set boundaries and work in a way that is best for myself and my family.

I would love to hear what your thoughts are, and what has helped you to navigate your personal journey as a working mum.

Love and be heiter,

Katharina x

Words: Katharina Geissler-Evans

Image: To be told Photography

Waldorf Family: who's behind the educational and seasonal pieces?

It was a long time ago but I acutally studied to become an elementary school teacher. I also worked as one for a couple of years. During that time I came across different theories and educational methods. One of them was the Waldorf theory by Robert Steiner. What I liked about it was its strong link to nature and the seasons, and that is why I loved getting to know Stephanie Green, the founder of Waldorf Family, and her beautifully illustrated educational products.

Please introduce yourself.

My name’s Stephanie Green, I’m the artist and founder of Waldorf Family. We are a sustainable home and lifestyle brand, making illustrated educational and seasonal pieces for families.

When did you start Waldorf Family and why?

Years ago we lived in Bristol and I was introduced to these amazing ideas like seasonal living, mindful living rhythms, and we celebrated all these amazingly colourful festivals. I was focused on being a mama and just loved living it; then in 2018 I started to draw little pieces for family and friends. With a little apprehension, started to share on Instagram and before I knew it, other people really engaged with the concept. I think I just gave visual form to a core idea that resonates with all people: we all share this same experience, of living on this planet right now. We created Waldorf Family the company around the illustrations and the soul intention to help people connect with nature.

What are the core values of Waldorf Family?

Sustainably and connection. Everything we make is sustainable. We use FSC wood, and brass fastening so that they can be recycled. There’s no plastic. We are UK made so our miles on products are kept to a minimum. The idea behind each product is to nurture connection to nature, in the maths collections that’s all about finding beauty and symmetry, with the Wheel of the Year is about engaging with the pattern and flow of the natural world.

What are lovely ways of incorporating the Waldorf method into everyday life?

There are a lots of ways to bring seasonal living into your lives, for us it started with a focus on festivals. So celebrating the darkness coming with lantern walks and Easter by planting an Easter garden and helping it grow. We also grow a lot of vegetables, but we supplement with a seasonal delivery box of veggies: so what we are eating reflects what’s happening outside – lots of salads in summer and root veg in autumn. I also think if you are starting fresh trying to let your children take the led a little is a great start, we can learn a lot from children – their sense of wonder for example can be a renewing, refreshing energy to welcoming into your family. 

The wooden wheel of the year is a lovely piece to teach children about the seasons.

What are the benefits of working with your educational products?

Less stress and deeper learning. Children are naturally really curious and given time they will unfold, like a flower in the sun. The educational products make space for this. For example the Maths collection together the Songs, Multiplication Wheel and the Maths Wheel can be used by a child to investigate step counting, multiplication, they could work independently or with an adult. What we do at home is listen to the CD in the car, and the kids follow allow on the Wheels on just reading the numbers on the Multiplication Wheel, we do one times table each day. We listen to it a few times, then sing it all together. Just from this my youngest who’s 7 can sing you all but the 9’s (because we haven’t done them yet) and my oldest has gone from hating Maths to realising once you know the times tables all the rest of Maths becomes easier. I think as parents and teachers we know how important the tables are; so it’s easy for it to become a pressured point, “learn them, learn them quick them everything gets easier”. I think given time and the right tools children will learn them: and we know self-actuated learning takes root as a much deeper learning. More than this independent learning aspect I think we should not underestimate two other elements, beauty and sensory learning. So the Waldorf Family collections are all colourful, I think all humans respond to colour but perhaps none more so than children I think colour fills us with joy and I think starting number work from this perspective is great. The second aspect that informs the collection is this idea that we are not just our hands or eyes or ears. We are amazingly complex creatures and so the Maths collection responds to us on many levels, colours, sounds, textures as well as intellectually. For younger ones simply using their hands to make patterns on  the Maths Wheel can help from a hand eye coordination and dexterity point of view. Finally that concept of discover is a great joy to watch when working with the Maths wheel, for children to see this language of Maths – which is highly beautiful – plotted out to become a symmetrical star pattern – but then more than that if they are using it in a number work block and doing all the tables the might be this moment when they realise after 5 – the midpoint- that the patterns are reflected – the same in the top half of the tables to the bottom. This “ah –ha” moment is another wonderful deep learning moment. To realise through the wheel the concept of symmetry  is a great building block for geometry later.

Where are your products made? What materials are used to make them?

We use FSC approved wood, so that means it’s all coming from sustainable forests. Then they are held together with brass, the boxes and packing are recycled Kraft paper. We have to use a bit of gum on the sticker to close the box – but we deliberately don’t use tape because it’s tricky to recycle. Everything we use is from the Earth and can be composted or recycled.

All wheels are made from FSC approved wood.

Out of all of your products, which one is your favourite and why?

At the moment I’m smitten with the Perpetual Moon Calendar. We love watching the moon in our house, we have a great big telescope and very excitable children, it’s just such a joy to watch them use it. On another level I’ve been really touched with the Maths Collection I have people writing to me to say its helped their dyspraxic son or stopped a worried child from being so stressed that’s huge and makes my heart happy.

What are the things that make you feel heiter?

Colour, like the rainbow, but also when the sun catches the leaves on a tree just right and they look like they are so vividly that colour: that really lights me up.

Interview and image: Katharina Geissler-Evans, heiter magazine