During a normal day, I change my clothes about 4 times. Gym clothes in the morning to drop my kids to school. Another change of clothes to record at the studio. Then my soccer mom outfit to transition into pj’s and ponytail. If you had access to my text messages they look like this:
“Remember that Brayden needs his scouts’ outfit for his 6 pm meeting.”
“A new appointment has been scheduled. Click here to see the details.”
“What’s for dinner? Want anything?”
“Receipt of your automatic payment to Dropbox. Click here to see the details.”
“Mom, can I use your car tonight?”
“Paypal: you got cash!”
“Are you busy? Can you talk? PS- your Mom!”
“When you have a chance, check your email, we just sent you a cut of your videos. Let me know if you like them.”
That’s only a small sample from my text messages… Then my Facebook notifications, Whatsapp messages, Social Media Management notifications, Slack teams, and hundreds of emails. Seriously, entrepreneurs/mompreneurs have super powers! Our brains are wired differently. If it isn’t clear yet, balancing work and family can be chaotic for a Mompreneur!
As a business woman/attorney, now marketer, I always dreamed of working from my peaceful studio filled with light and warmth. Perfectly organized file cabinets. I pictured my kids playing quietly at my feet, busy with games, coloring and reading books. I would, of course, look satisfied at the gorgeous marketing materials I had finished that day, all ready to go online and making my clients uber happy!
Yet, back to reality, I discovered early on my mompreneur journey that my daydreams were quite far-fetched (though well-intentioned!). Being able to sit and focus on any given business-related task is an undertaking as each thing could take longer to do if I don’t co-ordinate with my kid’s agendas. I had to shift my paradigms to succeed in both worlds- motherhood and entrepreneurship. This is what I’m sharing with you today!
6 Magical Habits for Balancing Motherhood and Entrepreneurship
1) Create a flexible work-week
Restructuring my schedule to a four-day work week gave me an opportunity to have an extra day. Typically that extra day is either Wednesday or Friday. That’s the day when I don’t schedule any formal meetings so I get to run errands, go out for dinner with family, or simply enjoying a movie night at home.
2) Involve your children in your business
I’ve found that planning for a healthy business is important, but planning for a healthy family life is even more essential. Without proper planning, I feel like life runs me rather than me running my life.
Giving your kids participation in your business goals will allow them to feel part of your journey. I remember one year when we offered them to go to Disney if we accomplish a new milestone in our business. Even my baby was excited. We put them to draw the castle, watch videos about Disney and kept them aware of our goal. As soon as we hit the business’ milestone, we all celebrated! Kids had a blast at Disney and I felt accomplished.
3) Boundaries
As I mentioned in item number one, restructuring my schedule to a four-day work week gave me the opportunity to win an extra day during the week. At the same time, I needed to create boundaries to serve my business while I serve my family. To give you one example: set up auto- responders and newsletters to serve your clients while you are not available.
Schedule your social media ahead of time or even better- delegate it to an expert!
4) Take the year in phases
No matter how young are your kids, I recommend that you restructure your year considering about 40 weeks instead of 52. In that way, when your kids are in school, you won’t be shocked by their vacations: Christmas, spring break, winter break, on top of the dozen of holidays and snow days.
Be realistic. Plan for family vacations and get yourself ready to enjoy your free time.
5) Self-care
You’re overwhelmed at work. You have a ton of projects piling up at home, and your calendar is packed with overdue tasks. To make room for all of this stuff, you skip lunch, stop going to the gym, and forget about your social life entirely. When we’re stressed, self-care is usually the first thing to go. And that only makes things worse.
6) Remove guilt
Dear Working Mother,
You are doing a great job. And your kids will turn out just fine despite the hours you spend away from them. Truly.
Of course, you probably don’t always feel that way yourself. If you are like most working moms I know, you may feel like you’re forever coming up short when it comes to doing enough, giving enough and being enough for your kids. Not to mention your clients, partners, your spouse, your aging parents and extended family, and yes, of course, your community.
I get it. You wish you had more time and resources to be there for your kids. Give yourself permission to be flexible. Honor your season. If you are growing your business, allow yourself to feel gratitude and proud of your accomplishments. Be essential. Kids are very easy to please. Sometimes we go too overboard with our own requirements.
I wrote this article as much for myself as for anyone else! The benefits are there: my children see their mother is setting goals and following her dreams. They see the discipline it takes to plan a business while being a loving parent. It can be intimidating and overwhelming at times, but I know I will never regret putting in the extra effort if it means I can be there for my children and achieve my dreams at the same time.
To your success,
Jessica
