Much of what we do at Bookstr would not be possible without the incredible moms on our team who make it happen. From conducting interviews to wrangling WordPress, these women work hard behind the scenes to curate the latest and greatest in bookish content. In between all this, they’re balancing parenthood, school, work, and various other commitments — no small feat!
The moms of Bookstr were gracious enough to share with us how they make time for themselves within their busy schedules. From bingeing shows to embracing the joy of doing nothing, read on to learn how Bookstr’s moms unwind — plus some of the media they’ve been enjoying lately.
Playing It By Ear
Making time for myself among my commitments to my family and Bookstr is incredibly difficult. I have to find pockets of time during the day, and I have to schedule time in the evenings for myself, otherwise, I overwork. This is why I keep weird hours when I’m working on Bookstr stuff! When I do make time for myself, the activities I do depend on how much energy I have leftover from the day. Sometimes I like to watch TV and lie in bed, sometimes I like to work on projects around the house, and other times I like to do something creative, such as sewing while listening to an audiobook. As far as book, television, and movie recs, I’m currently binge-watching The Cleaning Lady while also watching new episodes each week of shows such as The Rookie and 9-1-1. I recently watched The Life List, which made me ugly cry in a good way. I’m also listening to Before He Sees by Blake Pierce on audiobook.
Skyler Rodriguez, Social & Marketing Teams
Being Present
It can be tricky balancing academic, professional, and family commitments. I’m lucky that the first two have very flexible schedules at this point in my life, so I try to get all of my schoolwork and career responsibilities taken care of when my kiddo’s in school or asleep, which lets me focus on being present as a mom when she’s home. Sometimes, those rules need to bend, but I make sure we have at least one morning a week that’s just for the two of us to spend time together, going on an adventure, or working on a project as a team. To unwind, I love listening to music, watching YouTube, and reading. Recently, I’ve been pretty stressed with my final semester of school, so I’ve been going to my comfort media: episodes of Taskmaster, romance novellas, and Hozier’s entire discography on repeat.
Cara Broel, Editorial & Outreach
Reading and Respite
Books have always been my escape from reality. The thing I could go to to unwind, relax, and seek respite. As a mom of four who also works full time and freelances, finding time for myself and for reading is incredibly important to me. I’m not a big TV watcher, but my family is. We tend to lounge together, snuggled in the living room while they read or watch TV, and I read my book. We’re still together, doing something we enjoy. My husband, being a non-reader, is hilarious to watch, though. Some nights, he’s the only one with eyes on the TV, as the rest of us have our noses in books, and that just warms my heart. When books aren’t involved, you can count on the lot of us jamming to a very eclectic mix of music while dancing like no one is watching.
Kristi Eskew, Executive Editor
Taking It Easy
As a fairly new mother to an almost-two-year-old, I would say I am still learning how to balance motherhood with my other commitments, such as Bookstr, as an artist, as a wife, etc. I find that it can be easy to get wrapped up entirely in motherhood and my responsibilities, and occasionally forget to care for myself. But, I do try to take a step back and practice self-care, so I can be the best mother and employee that I can be. What “self-care” looks like for me is a whole lot of nothing. I personally thrive in taking time to just rest. Whether that be lying down in bed with a romance book, letting the hours pass, or scrolling on TikTok for probably too long while eating sweets and drinking too much coffee, so be it. Those little moments are just mine, and just me, and there is a great value in that. I do find that my position here at Bookstr is one that doesn’t take me away from being Mom. The team, since day one, has embraced my daughter and her occasional pop-ins to meetings with such warmth and love. It really is heartwarming to have a team all over the world that gets excited just to say hi to her. But overall, I am still navigating and figuring out motherhood every single day, and I don’t think that will ever change. It’s a beautiful, difficult, exciting journey each and every day.
Krysten Winkler, Art Director
Time Management
I balance my motherhood duties, Bookstr, school, and other commitments through time management, and by letting “being a mom” and “being at work” often overlap. I work from home and attend classes remotely with my youngest alongside me all day. I kick them all out of the living room (into their beds, bedrooms, whatever) at 8 pm every night, and that’s when I attempt to make time for myself. Sometimes, I still have work to do, but more often than not, this is when I get to unwind. I read books (rereading The Dead Zone by Stephen King right now, and before that, I read some Fear Street books by R.L. Stine so far this year). I watch movies (I watched The Spy Who Dumped Me on Hulu last night, starring Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon, and it was the perfect palate cleanser to end the day!) and TV shows (I’ve been binge-watching Heartstopper, Elementary, The Conners, and Teen Wolf). I game sometimes too if I have the energy and brain juice left over (replaying Days Gone right now and a little FFXIV) — but oh, how rare that is!
Erin Dzielski, Editor
Thanks so much to the Moms of Bookstr for everything you do, and for taking time out of your busy schedule to share your thoughts! We appreciate all your hard work and the hard work of moms everywhere.
To hear more from the Bookstr team, check out our advice for tackling your TBR here.
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