There are only 24 hours in an available day and you might have thought that this would represent enough time for us to get everything done. The dawn of each day should bring a fresh outlook to all of us and we should feel rejuvenated and ready to tackle anything that life has in store. This is not always the case, though, as we always seem to be playing catch-up, even though we have the most honourable intentions in mind. In this way, when the sun sets and the evening approaches, we end up feeling frustrated, wondering why we have not been able to do everything that we had set out to do. As a busy working mum, we certainly know about time constraints and wish we could find an extra hour, each day, somehow. Well, maybe we can:

1. Set up your phone so that all calls are processed before they reach you. With technology, some great programs are available to help you do this, including Google Voice, allowing you to prioritise the calls that you must take from those that can simply wait. You can even block unwanted or troublesome calls through the system. It's almost like having a personal secretary and will certainly help you to avoid those wasteful minutes, which can add up.

2. You have heard about outsourcing? It might be difficult to consider child minding, as it is so difficult to find somebody reliable and you might want to take this task on yourself whenever you are operating out of your home, but there are certainly other chores that you can outsource, including all that cleaning work that you have to get done.

3. Get a good time management software program, learn how to use it and stick with it. It might seem a bit alien to you at first, but if you are really stringent, you will save a great deal of time each day by focusing your attention.

4. Plan as much as you want, but make sure you follow through. If you have a long list of items that are swimming around in your head, that you know you need to complete, you will tend to bounce back and forth between them, which is very inefficient. Before you go to bed, or immediately when you wake up in the morning, spend time planning out exactly what you are going to do.

5. Allocate an hour for communication. This time will include your access to Facebook or other social networks, time to check e-mail and to make all those phone calls that you need to return. You would be amazed how much time can be lost if you're constantly checking e-mails or taking phone calls without a structured plan.

6. When you're planning your time, include a "buffer" at appropriate intervals. Never allocate time for a string of tasks, one after the other in an unrealistic fashion. If you allocate a certain amount of "buffer," you will not get sidetracked, harried or fall off your schedule.

7. Be extra productive when you are exercising. Never avoid physical activity and allocate at least 30 minutes per day to do so, but when you do this combine it with time to catch up with anything that is newsworthy. To do this you might have to put a TV in your home gym, utilise that electronic book reader or even just listen to a particular news or media channel as you go.

These days, online coaching experts know full well the value of time management and how adequate planning can help you to free up extra time that you might have overlooked. You will find that professional coaching is widely used by people throughout life and not just in the corporate executive arena. Don't forget, professional coaching for women is particularly recommended in your case!

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!

It's never easy taking a career break, but sometimes 'you've just got to do, what you've got to do,' as the saying goes. This is particularly appropriate when you have to make preparations for - and welcome into the World - a new arrival. Mum can be very focused indeed when it comes to the significant challenge of raising a child and it is understandable that her main focus may not, for the time being, be on her career, which will be on hiatus. Our society rightfully accommodates the mum-to-be during these times and thankfully, she doesn't have to worry about finances too much.

Relatively few women actually go through the effort of planning out a career in its entirety, taking into account what they plan to do in their life from a personal perspective and mapping out how they will handle childbirth, all the way through to the transition back to the workplace. It is, after all, very difficult to plan your entire career and personal life in advance, most especially given the financial and economic uncertainties that we have encountered in recent times. Nobody wants to go through such economic turmoil again and it's enough to throw anybody's plans into disarray, placing additional stress on the expectant mother, just when she doesn't need it.

There are a large number of reasons why mum needs to be super confident after baby arrives and she wants to return to work:

First, she should remember that she was hired in the first place due to a combination of skills, ability, education and personality. This combination is not easy to find in a replacement, as the human resources department will be only too well aware. Quietly and subtly, she should draw attention to these valuable assets!

Second, remember that there is nothing to feel guilty about. Within the society that we live, childbirth is a right that all women can claim and employers build their obligations into the fabric of their business. It is sure to be quite disruptive for any employer, but everybody can take this in stride and deal with it and it's certainly not a reason for the mum to feel guilty.

Thirdly, it's important to remember that the actual process of childbirth and family planning helps you to develop some notable planning and managerial skills, anyway. Don't underestimate these important skills and remember that you will be able to convert them for use within the work environment, as well.

Fourthly, as half of the entire workplace is made up of women, almost all of whom should be really sympathetic to you, remember that many of them have been in your position. This almost guarantees a sympathetic approach from them, when you reappear.

Finally, your new family must be viewed as a fantastic achievement and one that you should be rightly proud of. Not only should you be proud of what you have done, but you should consider that, after the rigours of childbirth, anything that they can throw at you in the workplace should be relatively easy to handle.

If this really is too much for you, consider professional coaching as you work through it. Within our hectic daily lives, we have access to online coaching as a solution, where professional coaching for women returning from childbirth can really help to overcome any and all problems that lay ahead.

Amanda Alexander, Director of Coaching Mums, helps pressure-cooked, stressed working mums who long for more hours in the day. Through her coaching programmes and online life coaching courses, Amanda shows mums how to create fulfilling and successful lives. For your simple 5 step guide to balance as a working mum, download our free eBook today!