There’s something about this time of year - the fall. Even if you’re not sitting in a classroom anymore or sending kids off to the first day of school, you can probably feel it—the shift that comes with back-to-school season.

As a working mom, you probably know the feeling all too well: there’s never enough time. Whether it’s rushing in the morning to get everyone out the door, responding to work emails on your phone while you wait for the water to boil, or staying up late to finish a project after the kids are asleep—your days are packed to the brim.

As a working mom, you know all too well how hard it can be to find uninterrupted time to focus on projects. Whether it’s a work-related task or something that needs to get done at home, it feels like there’s never enough time to tackle everything you need to do. Your calendar is full of meetings, your to-do list is never-ending, and at the end of the day, you're left feeling frustrated because you just didn't make much progress.

When will I feel like myself again? Those exact words send hundreds of people to my website each month from a google search. Not to mention it's question I regularly coach working moms on how to find the answer. In fact, I think I typed that same question into a google search bar in the middle of the night while up nursing one of my three kids. If you're a mom, and especially a working mom, you've likely asked yourself the same thing at some point.

No matter what season of work or parenting I'm here, there's a universal truth I’ve come to learn the hard way: we are not meant to do it all alone. And yet, if you're anything like the working moms I talk to, asking for help feels hard. It's not something most of us feel comfortable doing. So we opt to figure it out and do it ourselves, which often leads to exhaustion, overwhelm, and resentment.

As a working mom, you have a lot on your plate. Between juggling work, home life, and all the other responsibilities that come with motherhood, there's very little time or energy left for anything else. And yet, if at some point you want to advance your career or make a career shift, one of the most important things you can do is networking.