{"id":1324,"date":"2025-05-05T16:33:03","date_gmt":"2025-05-05T16:33:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/?p=1324"},"modified":"2025-05-05T16:34:32","modified_gmt":"2025-05-05T16:34:32","slug":"tips-for-returning-to-work-after-maternity-leave","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/?p=1324","title":{"rendered":"Tips for Returning to Work After Maternity Leave"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>Because Debugging Code Is Easier Than Debugging Sleep Schedules<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, you just had a baby. You\u2019ve conquered sleepless nights, survived diaper blowouts that defy physics, and discovered that you can, in fact, function on 2 hours of sleep and 4 cups of coffee. Now\u2026 it\u2019s time to go back to work in tech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>First of all\u2014<strong>you\u2019re amazing<\/strong>. Not only are you keeping a tiny human alive, but you\u2019re also about to step back into a world of PR reviews, Slack pings, and maybe even Kubernetes. (Let\u2019s be honest, even <em>pre-baby you<\/em> didn\u2019t fully understand Kubernetes.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Here are my top tips for returning to work after maternity leave\u2014packed with honesty, and some much-needed real talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Accept That You\u2019ll Have to Reboot<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019re basically like a server that just came back online after an unexpected (but beautiful) 12-week outage. Yes, you\u2019ll need some time to catch up on codebases, Slack threads, and a whole bunch of emails.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pro Tip:<\/strong> Schedule a few 1:1s with teammates to ease back in. Also, don\u2019t be afraid to say \u201cI don\u2019t remember\u201d or \u201cI need a moment to re-immerse\u201d\u2014you\u2019re rejoining, not restarting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Don&#8217;t Pretend You Slept Last Night<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Did your baby wake up 4 times last night? Probably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And yet, we moms have this superpower called <em>\u201cpretending everything\u2019s fine\u201d<\/em>. You don\u2019t have to do that. It\u2019s okay to log on with a messy bun, dark circles, and a coffee IV. Your team will survive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Pro Tip:<\/strong> Use your baby\u2019s nap schedule to your advantage\u2014if you\u2019re still working remotely, protect that time for deep focus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Set Boundaries Like a Boss<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Before the baby, you might have jumped into late-night deploys, weekend bug fixes, or casually started a new side project at 11 p.m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now? You&#8217;re lucky if you get to pee alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Set boundaries early: your working hours, your meeting limits, and your non-negotiables (like feeding time). Your time is valuable\u2014protect it like your baby\u2019s favorite pacifier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Automate Everything (Except the Baby)<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>You might not be able to automate diaper changes (yet), but you can definitely streamline your workflow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Use email filters, calendar blocks, keyboard shortcuts, and scripts<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Turn off notifications for anything that isn\u2019t absolutely necessary<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Reclaim your time like the boss you are<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Fun Fact:<\/strong> Your brain might feel foggy, but your multitasking game is now elite. You\u2019ve trained in the real-world version of multitasking bootcamp: <em>Motherhood.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. Be Honest With Your Manager<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Good managers will understand. Great ones will support you (I was lucky to have some great ones when I returned).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Tell them how you&#8217;re doing. Be upfront if you need a phased return, flexible hours, or even just a weekly \u201cno meetings\u201d day. And if you\u2019re in a company that doesn\u2019t support that? You\u2019ve got choices, mama. The tech world is vast\u2014and full of supportive teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">6. Let Go of the Guilt<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Working doesn\u2019t make you a bad mom. Being a mom doesn\u2019t make you a bad developer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You can love your work and miss your baby. You can miss work and love being a mom. That middle ground? It\u2019s called being human. And you\u2019re doing great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\ud83d\udc3e If You Have Pets Too, Good Luck<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Returning to work with a baby is one thing. Returning to work with <strong>a baby AND five dogs<\/strong> (yes, that\u2019s me \ud83d\ude4b\u200d\u2640\ufe0f)\u2026 that\u2019s chaos with a Wi-Fi connection. I don\u2019t have a tip here, just solidarity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Final Thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Returning to work after maternity leave in tech is a wild ride. You might feel behind, out of sync, or like you\u2019re wearing two hats (and both are stained with mashed banana).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But you are not alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019re a tech mom. You write code, build products, fix bugs, attend meetings <em>while warming a bottle<\/em>, and still manage to show up for your team.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Welcome back. You\u2019ve got this. \ud83d\udcaa<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Because Debugging Code Is Easier Than Debugging Sleep Schedules So, you just had a baby. You\u2019ve conquered sleepless nights, survived diaper blowouts that defy physics,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1324"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1325,"href":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1324\/revisions\/1325"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thetechmama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}