As a working mom, you're no stranger to the juggling act. Between managing your career, family responsibilities, and everyday life, it can feel like you’re on a constant treadmill, running but never quite getting ahead.

Do you love your job? I'm curious if that answer has changed over the years. I know it has for me, especially after having kids. Before I had my oldest child, I worked because frankly, I was ambitious. After working hard for my degree and taking risks to get internships and move to new cities, I wanted to put it all to good use.

I implemented a few simple routines that I could do each week to prioritize my own career growth and ensure that I'd always at least have some ideas about where I was headed and what I was working toward.

Coasting at work or quiet quitting is getting a lot of air time these days. But the truth is, working parents have gone in and out of phases of coasting for years as we navigate returning from parental leave, co-parenting with a partner's demanding work schedule, or just daycare illness season each fall/winter. It can be necessary at times and life/career-saving too. But what if you're stuck coasting because you think you don't have the time or energy that "leaning in" to your career will take? And what if the truth is, it doesn't take that much more?