What did before going on maternity leave look like for you?

[thewaitislong]

Curious what people's run-up to maternity leave looked like? I am less than 7 weeks from starting maternity leave and wondering what this stage is like at work for people? Frantically trying to get everything done in limited time, or would you have started taking it easy already?

I am absolutely frantic at the moment, having worked many weekends, evenings and holidays in the past 5 months to get things done ahead of going on leave and created a detailed plan for my team. And yet work is still piling on... My manager is expecting me to get stuff done now that was planned for later in year and to also do knowledge transfer to my maternity cover who needs a lot of training up.
I've just had a moment today where I feel like I can't keep going like this, feeling really burnt out and yet things aren't fully done like my manager wants, and she's just booking more meetings with me to put pressure on which is taking away much needed time to actually get things done. Today the realisation hit me that she's trying to squeeze out the max work from me before I go and I am struggling now but also feeling like I should have done better.

I feel like I need to be easier on myself despite the pressure from her.
But also wondering whether this is normal, or what normal looks like for other people before going on maternity leave so that I can get a point of reference.

I had a similar experience to you OP, was pretty much business as usual + preparing my team and handover right up until the day I went off. I used 1 day annual leave each week for the last few weeks to give myself the extra break because it was very obvious that work wasn’t going to wind down until I actually went off!

Both times, just doing my job really. No more, no less. I wasn't leaving a pile of work for someone else

My last few weeks of work were spent teaching my HR department that no, they couldn’t make me redundant or expect me to apply for my own job while I was on maternity leave.

And wondering why I’d put so much effort into work the preceding months when I should’ve been taking care of myself.

leading up to my mat leave I felt really burnt out, I did emphasise this to my manager and luckily it was pretty expected and understood. l also used the remainder of my holiday for the last 3 months to take off 2 days every 3-4 weeks, which helped a bit. be easy on yourself it’s an exhausting time!

Sounds like burnout or doing too much in your last few weeks isn't entirely uncommon then. I had been hoping by this point things would be more under control but I am unable to prep for baby or do much thinking about baby stuff with the amount of work I need to do.
I had a moment this week realizing I'm at risk of burnout, and ended up in a puddle of tears this morning and had to take the morning off to get my face straight before I could face work again. Was a wakeup call that I need to slow down despite the pressure.

aww be patient with yourself and definitely start taking it easy with work! after starting maternity leave I felt so burnt out I had little-no energy to do anything, but in the more recent weeks i’ve had bursts of energy and determination to do random tasks like build the crib out the blue 😂 you’ll be okay just take each day as it comes x

Once you’re on maternity leave a) your colleagues will learn to cope without you and b) you’ll be so wrapped up with your little one you’ll forget what it was like to go to work and wonder why you cared.

It’s nice that you’re diligent but don’t go overboard. You can only do so much and you really need all your energy for this next amazing thing you’re going to do. Good luck!