The Juggling Act

Latest Episodes:

Daily Coronavirus Check-in: How to talk to your boss about WFH ongoing Jun 14, 2020

Show notes

Many of us have now got the taste for working from home. And while I personally struggled in the beginning, now, I kinda like it. Obviously there’s the slippers and trackies element, but removing the commute time has also meant I can walk my kids to school and daycare each day AND sleep later (if they let me), hang out a load of washing, prep dinner so the kids don’t tear my face off when they walk in the door, and juggle life admin much easier (come on, I’m not the only one who has ducked out for appointments during the day…). Now that restrictions are easing and some workplaces are opening their doors again, how can you convince your boss to allow you to continue working from home? I got two career experts to share their tips to help you swap your suits for sweats on an ongoing basis.

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Daily Coronavirus Check-in: Stress-free Friday with Luke McLeod Jun 11, 2020

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Over the past couple of months on this daily Corona pod, I’ve spoken about feeling like I’m having panic attacks that I’ve never experienced before, and generally heightened levels of stress and anxiety. I know it’s something a lot of working parents have been feeling and are still feeling to varying degrees. So I’m officially declaring today ‘stress-free Friday’. Yup, today, you are not allowed to stress. Stress be gone. You have my permission to tell stress to eff right off. No space for you in our lives today. To help you do that, I put in a call to meditation and mindfulness teacher Luke Mcleod and asked him to share some calming practices and some quick things to do to help recognise that you’re starting to feel stress and how to bring those stress levels down. If you feel like your muscles are tight, your breathing is shallow and your forehead is scrunched up, then pop yourself down somewhere quiet and comfortable, and take these next few minutes for yourself.

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Daily Coronavirus Check-in: How to swap screen time for green time Jun 10, 2020

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We all know how tough the isolation period has been, and look, screen time rules have well and truly slipped in most households. Homeschooling combined with parents trying to work from home, has meant a LOT more Minecraft and endless episodes of My Little Pony. I know I’m not the only one… But now that restrictions are lifting, it’s time to take back control and swap all that screen time for some green time. There’s no doubting the benefits of kids getting outside in nature. It can enhance their creativity, lower stress, improve their mood, mental sharpness, well-being and productivity, help them build better social connections, and promote physical activity. It also has helps children learn, probably a lot more than watching Spanish kid’s unwrap stuff on YouTube… So, I’ve found some ways to help you get your kids put down the device and head out into nature’s classroom.

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Daily Coronavirus Check-in: Dealing with reverse culture shock anxiety Jun 09, 2020

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Thinking back to the first week we went into isolation and I thought I’d never get used to working from home, having the kids around, and just generally adjusting to the new normal we found ourselves in, with little warning. I was stressing about hand sanitiser, children’s Panadol and yup, the great toilet paper shortage. Now, nearly three months later, and I’m feeling anxious about the kids being back in school full time, using public transport again and heading back to the office. Turns out there’s a name for that anxiety. Psychologists call this feeling reverse culture shock, or re-entry syndrome. It's the same as the feeling you might have when you’ve been living overseas for a while and you return home. Unfortunately, we can’t just click our fingers and pick up where we left off. So I reached out to psychologist Belinda Williams from The Bumpy Road to find out a bit more about it and what we can do to help our families adjust.

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Daily Coronavirus Check-in: Things to do with your child that you'll enjoy too Jun 08, 2020

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We are slowing starting to come out of isolation after two months, so you’ve probably well and truly run out of things to do with the kids! We all know that sometimes playing with kids can be boring and sometimes we’re just too damn tired to glue another paddle pop stick or race cars. Do kids care? Hell, no! Kids want to play, regardless of how their parents feel. All. The. Time. I know my idea of a good time right now is locking myself in a room on my own with a glass of wine and a book, but if you want to spend time with the family, here’s a couple of ideas that will be fun for you, and also require the smallest amount of energy possible.

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Daily Coronavirus Check-in: Praise be the pandemic for cutting down birthday party stress Jun 07, 2020

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It was was daughter’s 8th birthday on Friday and now I’m preparing for my son’s tomorrow. Four days. That wasn’t smart planning. I am far from a Martha homemaker, craft, cooking, entertaining, just not my jam. So I dread the double birthday panic each year. This year however, I have an excellent excuse to dial things back. Like right back! I’ve loved hearing how families have been getting created with their kid’s birthdays over the past couple of months. Drive-by birthday wishes, zoom parties, pinata’s for one. The way that everyone has been able to make their little one's day special in isolation has been so beautiful. Now we’re starting to come out of restrictions and I know the kids are itching for a party! So they’re having three friends in the park with a cake, and individual snack bags. Boom. And we’re done. BUT, there’s still that dreaded C word. No not that one. Cake. The mere thought makes me break out in a cold sweat. So this year I got smart. I got myself a cake coach. Sort of.

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Daily Coronavirus Check-in: There’s no such thing as superwoman Jun 04, 2020

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I don’t know about you but I’m totally guilty of trying to be superwoman. The best teacher, colleague, boss, partner, chef, cleaner, the list goes on and on (and we’re the only ones crossing things off it). Why are so many working mums obsessed with proving that we can do it all? We know it’s not really achievable but we still seem to hold ourselves, and others – to these incredibly high expectations. I’m pretty sure if I served the kids vegemite on toast or weetbix for dinner, they’d be okay. If the house wasn’t perfectly tidied at the end of each day, the walls wouldn’t fall down. If we skip homework one night, it won’t stop them from getting into university. But the guilt stops me from doing any of those things. And as I sit here with my shoulders and back aching, tired from another night of stressing about ‘what ifs’, I wonder when on earth I unwittingly joined ‘the cult of intensive motherhood’ as author Felicity Harley calls it. Her new book ‘Balance & other BS’ landed on my kitchen table back in April and it perfectly sums up the past few months for many working mums. So I reached out to the mum-of-three, to find out why we do this to ourselves…

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Daily Coronavirus Check-in: Michelle Bridges on maintaining your health and fitness with kids at home Jun 03, 2020

Show notes

I feel like I’ve been doing an awful lot of sitting since I’ve been working from home. I get the kids to school and daycare then sit. All day. In the one spot. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely spot in the winter sun, but my thighs are not thanking me for it and I’m struggling to get motivated now that it’s getting colder outside. So I put in a call to fitness goddess and founder of 12-week body transformation Michelle Bridges to find out how she’s been handling iso and to get some tips to try and get my health back on track.

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Daily Coronavirus Check-in: What you need to know before withdrawing your super Jun 02, 2020

Show notes

Financially, times are tough for a lot of people right now. To try and help ease the burden, the government announced quicker turnaround and less stringent conditions for people wanting to access their superannuation. As soon as that was announced, 600,000 people registered their intent to apply. As of the end of April, the Australian Tax Office had approved over 450,000 applications worth a total of $3.8 billion dollars. That cash hits peoples accounts within five days. You might be thinking about applying yourself, but before you do, I reached out to Lacey Filipich, Founder and Director of Money School to find out the pros and cons of withdrawing your super early.

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Daily Coronavirus Check-in: Emma Watkins on how the Wiggles have pivoted during Covid Jun 01, 2020

Show notes

How divine is Emma Watkins, otherwise known as Emma Wiggle? I mean she’s bubbly, talented, keeps our kids entertained, wears a bow in her hair ten times better than Jo Jo Siwa, and somehow manages to look fabulous in yellow. That’s a gift. But it turns out she has a weakness, she can’t cook! I think she’s basically my spirit animal. You know, except for the singing and dancing part. And the yellow. Blondes can't wear yellow. I caught up with Emma about how The Wiggles have managed to pivot during Covid to stay connected with their audience and what she’s been doing in quarantine… prepare yourselves for a massive overload of cuteness!

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