How to plan for maternity leave as a solopreneur
During pregnancy, I realized that all the information about maternity leave dealt with people in corporate jobs – rarely people that work for themselves. I had to figure out everything myself (I did a LOT of deep googling). I wanted to help solopreneurs plan for maternity leave without the hassle, so created plans, worksheets, and posts to help teach others what I learned myself.
Preparing for Maternity Leave Part 1:
First, you want to get an understanding of what maternity leave will really feel like, specifically with regard to your emotions and expectations. You may think that you will feel a certain way, but you don’t really know how you will actually feel until you walk through each step.
Everything will change: your emotions, relationships, energy levels, etc. All of this is normal, but remember that while you may think everything will feel fine, it may not – and that is okay!
How do you know when to stop working?
What is the final day that you cross off your to-do’s? This is different for everyone, but there are some good guidelines to follow.
The first is to reverse engineer your time. After 35 weeks, focus your attention only on ‘nice to dos’. These are things that you don’t have to get done and are not crucial. Things such as Instagram posts, newsletters, and expenses.
Before 35 weeks focus on ‘must dos’. These are tasks such as client work, scheduling blog posts, etc. Again, this is all relative to each person and you may feel super exhausted around 30 weeks and need to lay in bed for hours a day, so keep that in mind! If you can, you may also want to scale down your hours slowly instead of stopping altogether.
How long should you plan to be out on maternity leave?
This is personal. I can’t answer that for you! However, I like to say plan for whatever you think you’ll need plus a little more. You can always come back earlier, but it is harder to add extra time at the end after you have scheduled finances, delegations, etc.
Should you work during maternity leave?
This is also different for everyone, but I can give you a few pointers. For many, it depends on the type of work you do. In general, it is better to handle minor tasks: responding to emails, writing posts or newsletters, checking in on social media - but the key is to not stress yourself out with anything work related. Give yourself permission to just be present!
Here are another few things to consider:
Maternity leave shorter than 12 weeks puts women at higher risk of postpartum depression and anxiety.
Will you/how long will you be breastfeeding?
And how long can your partner take off?
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