2: Andrea Mara on Balance

Andrea Mara is an author and blogger who lives in Dublin with her husband and three young children. She attempts – often badly - to balance work, family, and writing, then lets off steam on her blog, OfficeMum.ie.

For 17 years, Andrea worked in Financial Services and it was when she returned to work after her third maternity leave that she started blogging – focusing on the challenges she faced while trying to balance work and home. Two years later, redundancy gave her the opportunity to turn her hobby into a career. In 2016, she signed a book deal with Poolbeg, and her first novel, a psychological thriller called The Other Side of the Wall, was shortlisted for the Kate O’Brien award in 2018. Her second novel, One Click, was shortlisted for Irish Crime Novel of the year in the 2018 An Post Irish Book Awards. She has also won a number of awards for blogging, but is unlikely to win any medals for her ongoing attempts to balance work and home.

Website: www.officemum.ie

Key points:

You find better balance when you enjoy your job more

The key to balance is not feeling guilty for not being able to give everything 100%

Find better balance by writing a list of what's working and what's not working