Why Working while Pregnant is Hard & Unhappy
Pregnancy is a beautiful thing. You are carrying life within you. It is a beautiful journey that women get to experience. However, it is not always a smooth journey.
At some point, the pregnancy may seem to have some implications on your work. It makes you hate working so much that you want to quit. You find that you are really struggling with work and coping with your boss and colleagues because of the pregnancy;
Working while pregnancy is hard and an unhappy experience is because of the following reasons;
- Your priorities shift from work to baby/family- Work seems less interesting
- The pregnancy makes you physically uncomfortable, hence hating working
- Inability to manage emotions; making it difficult for you to work with and cope with your colleagues or boss
- Fatigue and poor concentration ;leading to poor performance issues
- Hormones negatively affect the enthusiasm and motivation for work- you feel hatred for your job
- Your colleagues and boss may not be understanding or accommodating of your new status; adding to the struggle that you feel of working while pregnant
How to Remain Motivated/Happy at Work While Pregnant
1. Dress up with Inspiring Pregnant Wear
Many people underestimate the power of clothing on one’s feelings. The kind of clothes that you choose for the day will affect the mood the rest of the day. Therefore be intentional with the kind of wear you are choosing for the day as you need extra inspiration.
While your pregnancy is still young in the first or second trimester, you can continue wearing the same clothes you had. Much later when the bump appears in your second or third trimester, you may need to find comfortable pregnant wear.
There are many options of cheap yet comfortable pregnant office wear you can buy such as comfortable pants, dress, kimonos, tops, shirts and shoes.
- Finding the right clothing to wear for work can really improve your mood at work
- Aim for clothes that are both functional and spark joy- they will help feel better you are feeling down or demotivated
- Make a point of dressing up daily as you will improve your moods tremendously at work
- Wear make-up for extra inspiration -a simple thing to lift your spirits during your pregnancy
- Ensure you make a nice hairdo. when you feel and look good, you will be motivated to work even when pregnant
2. Develop a Strong Support System
Being a working mom is hard and working while pregnant is even harder. For some, they even find it impossible to cope with the boss ,the colleagues or the work and quit along the way. Probably what they lacked was a support system.
As such one of the important things that you need to do while pregnant to remain motivated in work is to have a support system around you.
A support system will help you in the following ways;
- Help you manage your emotions
- Keep you focused and enthusiastic about work
- Have people to talk to about unhappy experiences at work
- People to share with work dilemmas and brainstorm for solutions
- Offer guidance on how to navigate workplace stress and their impact on you and your moods
- Help keep your mindset positive- by focusing on good things and not negative experiences
When you have such as strong support system, you will not feel overwhelmed or lose interest and enthusiasm in work. It could be your friends, your family, and your colleagues at work.
The circle will help you navigate your feelings during pregnancy and keep your inspiration in work going. You will find that when you do this, you do not lose your motivation or inspiration.
3. Find what Fuels your Work Motivation
Motivation always has a source of inspiration and women are motivated by different things. You need to identify what it is that wakes up every morning and makes you want to work. You may be inspired by different things at different and so you need to know what it is about work that you love.
It could be;
- The career opportunities that work offers
- The social connections and interactions at work
- The finances and other benefits
- The balance work adds to life among others
Each offers you a pathway to cope with your pregnancy journey at work. Once you can identify it, you can manage to cope with any negative situation or experience at work during your pregnancy.
Find out what motivates you to work, even before pregnancy, and fuel it. You have to remind yourself every morning why you are working for yourself to find the motivation and inspiration to work. It is among the easiest ways that pregnant find motivation in work again.
When you think of all this, you will find yourself loving your job again.
Read: Source of Motivation for Working Moms
4. Get Adequate Medical Care
Medical care during your pregnancy is very important and one of the simple ways to ensure that you do not lose your motivation. It helps to ensure you and the baby are safe through the journey and that you deliver your baby safely at the end.
The importance of medical care for your motivation is helping rule out that you have a condition that can prevent you from working.
Secondly, you can get the right medication for common morning sickness issues that may affect your motivation. By doing so if you are pregnant you will find that you are more comfortable in work than before.
Also snacking on crackers helps keep the nausea away. Typically any form of crackers are great but i bought mint flavored crackers and they worked wonders. Whenever i would feel nausea, snacking on these crackers really helped me through both of my pregnancies.
Other effective foods for fighting off morning sickness and keeping motivated for work are Herbal teas and broth
5. Practice Self Care – It Keeps your Energy up
Self-care is important, more so now that you are pregnant. It will help you retain your motivation and avoid losing interest in work. You need to be well for you to even be inspired and motivated by work. How you take care of yourself will reflect outwardly on how you work and how you feel about work.
Adopt small self-care habits at work such as;
- Drinking a lot of water- helps in metabolism and keeps you hydrated
- Avoiding excessive sugar and caffeine- helps you fight fatigue and keeps you focused
- Having a healthy lunch and snacks- keeps you energized for work
- Do light exercise -e.g. standing for a while, walking around, taking breaks from work
- Work on your attitude and mindset- Affirm yourself that you can do this and focus and strengths and good experiences versus negative ones
- Check on your mental health by avoiding any possible stressors. Talk to a trusted friend or therapist whenever you are feeling overwhelmed in order to manage your stress levels
All these habits are very important. They play a key role in wading off fatigue, keep you energized and focused all which will help you love working despite being pregnant.
If you need inspiration in drinking water, buying a cute and motivating water bottle may help. Also alternative sugar free snacks include
Read: How to Create a Self Care Plan
6. Focus on your Productivity and Making Work Easier
As a pregnant working mom, you need all the help you can get to stay focused and productive at work. Effectiveness and efficiency at work is crucial so that your performance is not negatively affected.
Therefore you will need to stay focused as this will keep your interest in your work high. Some of the ways you can remain productive at work during pregnancy are;
- Use assistive tools in time management, planning, task scheduling, auditing and tracking . all these tools will make your work easier so that you are not overwhelmed in your pregnancy.
- Set daily SMART goals for your job- they are important in tracking productivity and progress
- Create simple daily task list – it is easy to follow and tick off what you have already done and what is remaining
- Celebrate small milestones- in pregnancy journey, you need to be your own cheer leader and celebrate small and productivity wins
- Prioritizes what needs to be done first- Handle important and urgent tasks first. Remaining focused on relevant and impactful tasks is crucial to remaining productive at work in your pregnancy
- Delegate tasks when possible- Do no try to do everything by yourself.
- Manage your time and void time wasters- makes it easy for you to get time to focus on the necessary things
- Automate what you can- it makes your work easier
Tools and apps for these tasks will make you productive by saving you time and keeping focused on the task at hand. As a such you wont struggle much or find it difficult to cope with the pregnancy while you are working.
I would recommended Skylight 15 inch Digital Calendar. It comes with an app syncs easily so you can access you schedule from any device you are on. I really helped me create a habit and routine especially when i felt overwhelmed by the pregnancy.
What i love the most about this calendar is the versatility. While its primary function is calendar and managing schedules, i was able to use for more.
In addition i transitioned the Skylight 15 inch Digital Calendar to not only work related events but our whole family events. I actually made it easier to balance both sides and is stopped feeling overwhelmed.
You need to set realistic goals now that you are pregnant to ensure you are not pushing your body too far. You need to keep your work expectations average and reasonable now that you are pregnant and limited in a number of contexts.
Make a point of making a list of what you have achieved at the end of the day and this will keep you motivated for the next day. By doing the above, your interest in work will not wan.
7. Work Remotely Occasionally to Avoid Losing Interest in Work
A change of environment is always good, especially when you are under the strain of pregnancy. It will do you good to have a different environment where you can work from.
Talk to your employer about letting you have a hybrid work arrangement. Such a change will do wonders to your moods and you will find you are motivated and productive at work again. It is one the simplest ways you can use to keep you interest in work high while pregnant .
Have a list of possible places that make you feel good and you can work from. It does not necessarily have to be home and can include;
- A co-working space
- The coffee shop
- The public library
- The cafeteria among other places.
Make a point of regularly changing your work spot to keep your motivation and enthusiasm for work refilled.
If you need to setup your home office, have a look at these essential home office supplies and equipment.
Read: How to Work Effectively from Home
8. Adopt a Positive Mindset
Your attitude and mindset towards anything is very important. It is a top determinant whether you are going to succeed in that thing or not. As such to manage and cope working while you are pregnant, you need to change your mindset.
You need to work on your beliefs and attitudes towards work. You need to train your mind to accept the positive possibility of loving and being happy at work despite being pregnant.
Some of the ways you can cultivate and have a positive mindset and attender towards work when pregnant include;
- Celebrate your wins at work- no matter how small- it it will help in keeping you cheerful
- Affirm yourself in the morning- that you are great and you will cope and make it
- Pick and learn lessons from things that have failed
- Be kind to yourself- correct yourself with grace
- Accept criticism with grace – It is meant to help you improve and grow
- Focus on the good experiences of your pregnancy at work journey
- Surround yourself with a happy and positive circle- it plays a crucial role in remaining cheerful
9. Manage your Stress Levels
Getting stressed and overwhelmed by work is very possible when you are pregnant. Pregnancy makes you more susceptible to emotional changes and this can make it challenging for you to deal with difficult situations.
However managing your stress is very important to ensure you are happy and love your job when you are pregnant. Some of the ways you can manage stress at work during pregnancy and keep you motivated include;
- Adopt a healthy self-care routine that includes healthy diet, adequate sleep, exercise etc.
- Surround yourself with a strong support system
- Have ways of distressing such as yoga, meditation
- Talk to a therapist or trusted friend
- Set realistic expectations for work and relationship with other people
Should you Stop Working because you are Pregnant?
You do not need to stop working because you are expecting a baby. The fact that you hate working while expectant is not an indication that you need to stop working.
It is not necessary or required at all because you can easily manage and cope with struggles of working while pregnant. There are a lot of ways you can still find motivation, focus and enthusiasm for work again despite your pregnancy.
However you may need to stop working for health reasons where work may negatively affect your body. Beside the health reasons, you should continue working for as long as possible, even to the very last day of your pregnancy.
When you Should Stop Working During Pregnancy
There are many factors that determine when the safest and ideal time to stop working is. Even so the best time for a pregnant working mom to stop working due to pregnancy can vary from one working woman to another.
Some stop immediately they realize they are pregnant and others work until their due date. It all depends on your health, your capability to work, and your personal preference. Below are signs on how you can know it is time to leave work because of your pregnancy sake.
1. If you Work in a Straineous Field/Industry
The nature of work is one way you can use to know if and when you need to stop working while pregnant. If you are in an intensive field you may need to cut it out a bit or stop working entirely if you are pregnant.
As your pregnancy progress, you will be expected to take it easy, and if your work does not allow you , you may need to stop around your second trimester. You may find that doing manual work gets more challenging ad your pregnancy progress and you have to stop at some point when it poses a risk.
If you are working in an easy field, you should continue working even when pregnant. Most industries and position are easy on pregnant and you can go on working because your work does not put physical strain on your pregnancy.
2. If you have Pregnancy Complications
Health complications are one of the signs that you need to stop working while pregnant. Some women develop health complications during pregnancy that can put them and the baby at risk.
Certain conditions limit you and you need to get adequate medical care during your pregnancy to ensure you have no conditions that require you to take it easy on work. If this is your case, it is best to heed your doctor’s advice until when it is safest for you to continue working.
On the other had if you are not having any health complications with your pregnancy, you should continue working. Your doctor will give a go ahead that you are fit to work in your pregnancy. As such continue embracing this journey and do not leave your job yet.
3. Personal Preference
Personal reasons are of the main reasons that pregnant moms use to stop working. It could be agreed upon between you and your spouse or simply a personal decision.
Some women find it hard to navigate the changes brought by pregnancy and work and see it best to stop working when they do. If you are in a good financial position you can choose to go through your pregnancy journey without working.
For other moms, the fact that you are unhappy at work is a good reason to leave your job. It is true that working in a job that you hate may have negative impacts on you, especially your quality of life and mental health.
Therefore if your pregnancy makes it really hard to work and you really hate your job then quit. If you are unhappy working the you should quit and resume later after you have delivered your baby.
Read: Reasons to Disclose Pregnancy to Employer
