How to Be Present as a Christian Working Mom
How do you stay present with your kids when you're a busy Christian working mom?
You start by admitting the problem usually isn't time. It's attention. Dr. Michelle Machado teaches that distraction isn't a character flaw or a willpower problem. It's a coping mechanism, a way we escape what we don't want to sit with. Once you get honest about what you're escaping and anchor your morning in God before the world grabs your attention, presence stops being a guilt trip and starts being a daily choice.
By Marina Tolentino | October 6, 2026
"Mommy, did you want to have kids? Because I feel like I'm distracting you."
That's what Dr. Michelle Machado's daughter asked her one night while Michelle kept typing.
If that one landed somewhere in your chest, same. Because how many times have we said "just five more minutes, honey"? I'll be right down. I just have to finish this one thing.
This week on Work Like A Mother, I sat down with Michelle, a two-time TEDx speaker, human performance strategist, mom of two girls, and author of Alive Again: 4 Steps to Reclaim Your Life in a Distracted World. We talked about ambition, motherhood, our addiction to distraction, and whether you can actually be successful and present at the same time.
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What We Model Is What They Mirror
Michelle didn't always look like the woman who teaches presence.
For two decades, she was the high achiever. Undergrad, master's, doctorate, MBA. Senior leadership roles at eight universities. Moving continents with young kids and working full-time in every country she landed in.
On paper? Wildly successful.
On the inside? "I had everything that I had worked for, but I was inside on a very empty."
The night her daughter asked that question, Michelle was in a senior role with immovable deadlines. It was right after COVID, when the line between work and home basically disappeared. Her daughter kept coming to the door. Mommy, are you done yet? And every time, Michelle got a little more frustrated.
Then came the question that stopped her heart.
"How am I showing up," she asked herself, "that my kid thinks that they are a distraction in my life?"
Here's the part every working mom needs to hear: you can say one thing, and your actions can mean something else. Our kids are observing us. They're absorbing us. They're deciding how much we love them based on how we show up day to day, not on how many boxes we check.
They don't care that the lunch got packed early or the appointments got time-blocked. They just want mom. Messy, tired, having-a-hard-day mom. Sis, they just want you.
And Michelle's practical shift is so simple it almost feels too easy: when she's having a rough day, she tells her girls. "Honey, I've had a really bad day. Can you give me ten minutes?" She takes that time to pray, breathe, or finish the thing, and then she comes back actually present, instead of half-listening with her mind somewhere else.
Watch Michelle share this story at 10:09
Distraction Isn't a Discipline Problem. It's an Escape.
This was the part of the conversation that convicted me most.
We tend to treat distraction like a willpower issue. If I just had more discipline, I'd put the phone down. But Michelle says distraction is usually a coping mechanism. Our phones are slowly conditioning our bodies to always be "on": producing, consuming, absorbing. What they don't let us do is be still.
In Alive Again, she names four forms of distraction (and she's talking about the extreme versions, not the occasional scroll):
- Social media overload: constantly consuming, creating, and absorbing
- Work immersion: when work becomes so all-consuming it's the only thing you can think about
- Entertainment: when the show or the movie becomes the default escape every single time
- The news: the 24/7 kind that sets your nervous system on fire
None of these are bad on their own. But when they keep us constantly immersed, we never stop long enough to ask the hard questions: who we are, whose we are, and what we're here to do. Michelle sees that as a spiritual battle.
And then she said the line I can't stop thinking about:
"God is not going to compete for your attention. He's gonna wait for it."
Hi, it's me. I can't wait for the kids to go to bed so I can get my TikTok scroll on. I even label it in my head: I can't wait to escape. Escape what, though? What's the discomfort I don't want to feel?
Michelle's challenge is a good one for all of us. Next time you close an app, ask yourself: how do I feel right now? That 30-second check will tell you more than any screen-time report.
Watch Michelle break down distraction as a spiritual battle at 14:53
This ties right into what we unpacked in why success can feel so heavy for Christian working moms: sometimes the weight isn't the work itself. It's what we're using the work to avoid.
If this conversation is stirring something up, don't let it end when the episode does. Follow Work Like A Mother so you don't miss the rest of this season's conversations on faith, motherhood, and building a life you're actually present for. Follow the podcast here.
Calling Comes Before Clarity
So how did Michelle go from burnt-out academic to walking in this work?
A nudge. For months.
It started when she picked up Lewis Howes' The Greatness Mindset, the first non-textbook she'd read in years. Something sparked. And for months she pushed it aside, because who has time? Bills to pay. Projects to finish. A reputation on the line.
But the nudge kept getting louder. So she started small: a domain, a website, a program, all built while she was still working.
The morning she finally wrote her resignation letter, she woke up before 4 a.m., prayed, and felt at peace. Then she walked outside to take the kids to school and found shattered glass in the driveway. Their car had been stolen.
Cue the doubt. Is this a sign? Am I making the wrong decision?
Thirty minutes before the call with her boss, she sat in prayer and asked God to tell her if she was wrong. The answer she felt in her spirit: "Stealing is not the work of the Lord."
She resigned that day.
Watch Michelle tell the resignation-day story at 20:00
Did she know how it would turn out? Not even close. She'd never run a business. She didn't know if anyone would buy a ticket to her program. But she says it best: "Calling comes before clarity." God won't give you the whole picture. He gives you the next step, and your job is to say yes.
If you've been wrestling with what your next yes looks like, go back and read what your calling looks like as a Christian working mom. It pairs so well with Michelle's story.
You Don't Need Two Hours. You Need the First Moments.
Okay, let's be real. When Michelle mentioned spending one to two hours in prayer and meditation every morning, I know some of you laughed out loud. Toddlers. Diapers. The 6 a.m. "Mommy, I'm hungry."
Michelle laughed too. She doesn't always get two hours. Some mornings it's 30 minutes before the kids are up. Some mornings it's 45, because she hit snooze. (Same, girl.)
The length isn't the point. The timing is. She protects the morning because it's the window before the world starts competing for your attention. That's when you get rooted in Him, so when you step into the chaos, you're anchored.
Watch Michelle and Marina talk real-life morning rhythms at 25:04
Here's what that can look like in your real life:
- Start with what you have. Ten minutes still counts. So does a Bible open on the kitchen counter while you hold the baby.
- Use a plan, not a blank page. Michelle uses short topical plans in the YouVersion Bible app: anxiety, fear, loneliness, whatever she's feeling.
- Treat it like a friendship. When Michelle's daughter asked why her mom has such a good connection with God, Michelle asked her how you build a best friend. "I spend time with them." Same with God.
- Make the choice and repeat it. When I came back to reading my Bible, I committed to 90 days. It felt like a square tire at first. Now I feel the lack if I miss a day.
And as Michelle put it: if you have time for Netflix, Instagram, and TikTok, you have some time for God.
It's not holier-than-thou. It's seasonal. And it's a choice we get to make again tomorrow.
So here's the question Michelle left us with, and I want you to sit with it this week: who have you been performing for? A version of you that earns more love, more praise, more belonging? Or God?
Get still. Get honest. The answer will show you your next step. You're not too busy. You're distracted, and that's something we can change, one present moment at a time.
Find Dr. Michelle Machado on Instagram and LinkedIn at @drmichellemachado, and grab her book Alive Again wherever books are sold or at michelledmachado.com. Then subscribe to Work Like A Mother so you never miss a conversation like this one.
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About Marina Tolentino
Marina Tolentino is a REALTOR®, author, and the host of the Work Like A Mother podcast, where she helps Christian working moms feel confident about their next move — at home, in faith, and in business. Listen and subscribe at marinatolentino.com/podcast.
