LIVE: Author Turner Helps Moms Find Their Balance With New Book
LIVE: Author Turner Helps Moms Find Their Balance With New Book
Turner is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author and founder of the popular blog "The Mom Creative."
"Stretched Too Thin" focuses on what steps working moms can take to help feel more in control and avoid burnout and becoming overwhelmed. Major themes include setting achievable goals, discovering flexibility, investing in your marriage, and establishing work boundaries, among others.
"The most important thing to remember is that you can't actually have it all," Turner said. "It's all about finding what works for you. I don't like the word 'balance' because it implies you need to evenly divide your time. But that's not really the case. Instead, you need to focus on what's most important to you, while maybe letting go of a few things that aren't as important."
As a first step, Turner encourages working moms to track how they spend their time for an entire week.
"Start by looking at how you actually spend your time," she said. "Then you can take a look and asses whether you really need to spend so much time doing laundry, whether that group you agreed to is actually something you still want to be doing. It also helps you see where you might need to ask for help--whether from your spouse, your family, or anyone else."
Asking for help, Turner says, is far from a sign of weakness, rather it shows a woman's strength and confidence in knowing that she can't accomplish everything on her own.
One main theme of "Stretched Too Thin," as well as her first book, "The Fringe Hours," is the importance of self-care, or taking time to do things for yourself.
"So often, women will put their own needs aside, whether that's a doctor's appointment, or following a passion, or just taking some time for themselves, and it goes on for so long that it leads to burnout," Turner said. "It's so important to take time for physical, emotional, and mental well-being."
"Stretched Too Thin" will be released in September and is available for purchase on Amazon, at Barnes & Noble, Target, and wherever books are sold.