Just the mom duties alone are easily a 24/7 job. Then when you factor in trying to start/run a business in the “spare minutes” and creative time management…we’re often working all day/all night long. This isn’t such a great thing.We need more time for fun and relaxation!
Today for instance–I had some alone time while I had my early morning devotional and while I was driving home from dropping kids off at school, but that’s been it until now. All day it was kid-focused/home-focused, which was great, but exhausting and now I am craving work time. So quick! Hurry! Work! Work! Work! And get to bed so I can do it all over again tomorrow. Sounds totally ridiculous. No wonder I get burnt out and frustrated sometimes. Time to get more effective with what I do and how I do it.
Fairy Godmother Wendy Piersall recently wrote a post on her site about being a workaholic that I found interesting because I can totally relate! She wrote about how she’s going to cut back and stop being such a perfectionist (another issue I can relate to)! “The best way to figure out how to balance things is to look at them when they are way off balance.” This is very true! I’m finding that if I’m not constantly trying to evaluate things about “what I can do without”, I end up doing too much and my addiction to work too much takes over.
Here’s my list of what I’m doing to find more balance and be more effective:
- I’m going to continue working a firm 10 hours a week on getting Start Up Princess developed into a bona fide business and not just a blog/informal organization.
- I am looking for an intern or assistant to help us grow. (Interested?)
- I only check email twice a day now (this takes an incredible amount of discipline)
- I decided not to get a palm pilot and to just use my iCalendar on my Mac so that I’m not tempted to do additional planning/etc when I’m out with the family at the park, etc. No Blackberry for me either–ever.
- I don’t expect to get work done at night so then I’m not disappointed if my kids go to bed late or there’s another opportunity to go out and do something fun or social
- I use my magic 15 minutes of planning in the morning to decide what my focus should be and stick to three major to do’s before bed time, thus eliminating the need to do too much
- I set goals in all the major areas of The Wheel of Life each week
- Email my coach every Friday to be accountable with the goals that I set and how I’m doing with them
- Affirm to myself daily, “I have all the time I need to grow my business and be a great mom” (Law of Attraction)
Today’s Magic Wand: Let’s not be crazy, ok? If you are feeling out of control, out of balance, off-balanced, or anything else, make your list of how you’re going to cut back today and start implementing! 
And affirm, “I have all the time I need to grow my business and be a great mom”
***If you comment on this post and tell us what you’re going to do to cut back then you might be selected for a featured interview on Start Up Princess.
Hi Kelly!
Great post! I can ‘never’ have a Blackberry either for all the same reasons. As for Goal #1, please consume, absorb, and apply my tips in today’s post:
“Have a System, Build an Online Business You Can Be Proud Of.” http://empowerwomennow.com/news-women-entrepreneurs/index.php/have-a-system-build-an-online-business-you-can-be-proud-of/
Hope to help!
Hugz, Ponn
Awesome, Ponn! I’ll check out your magical wisdom.
I think the hardest one to follow is the checking your email only twice a day! That takes an amazing amount of self control! I’m trying to work on something similar, mine is, check my email no more than 5 times daily!
Also, I have a similar motto to yours, mine is “Small steps, big dreams.” It helps keep me focused, grounded and just calms me down! I also have to always remind myself that although my business may be super important to me, it is just that, a business. My kids are my life, so every now and then, I have to re-assess my priorities.
It’s not easy, is it?
You know, I do not fit into any mom-categories- I’m not a stay at home mom, though I am here working online, and I am not a career mom, because I have my own businesses.
I have one other girl friend who is the same way. We love our kids, both having acouple boys under 6, and have purposefully set up our lives so we can be mom first and still make money.
This is unconventional. And that’s ok. Sometimes I am busy getting a start up going- liek this past Sunday and Monday- I worked like a wild woman setting up another blog-business idea I am working on. My kids watched a lot of tv and ate a lot of cereal. Today, I have had all day to spend with them- they ate real food.
We who choose a different life have to accept that we are different and while we make sure we keep our kids and families a priority, it is okay for us to spend the crazy time we do building our businesses.
My two cents!
Hi,
I think that you, moms working from home are great! I’m not a mom, but I decided to work from home in order to have more time for myself. My days are full, even without children (it is true that I play about two hours with my cat) and somehow I lost the habit of focusing on one thing at a time. So, instead of getting things done, I let them go, because if you postpone doing things, they may not be necessary anymore, or somebody else may do them.
I agree with Marina and you! Checking e-mail regularly is such at temptation!
“A little extra cash on the side” was my expectation when I started my business a year ago. Gradually, it has grown into something so much more than I ever imagined. Along with that, much more work that I anticipated initially. My biggest trap has been the classic first child syndrome- I am an overacheiver. It is incredibly gratifying to watch your dream grow and have people respond positively to it. Unless I stop frequently and actually remind myself why I started the business- to stay at home with my son- I get easily caught up in the concept of doing more, more, more!
One thing that I have done recently, and I know you have touched on this as well, is to find help. It might be in the form of a smaller PR firm, a babysitter- it might even be someone part time that comes in to help with shipping or return e-mails. Initially, I resisted hiring help because I felt that no one would love my business like I do. However, I have found that because they love their work, the pride they take translates into great results for both of us. It has freed me up to spend more time doing the parts of my job I really love to do, and allow someone with different talents to excel in the areas I struggle with or simply do not enjoy.
Balancing work and family will probably always be an issue for me, but hopefully the constant reminder that my family comes first can lead to finding alternative solutions to the never-ending work that needs to be done.
Marina-You’re right! Not checking email is super duper hard, but I allow myself to check the updates on this site with comments (instead of getting the alert through email) and I use the internet for research, reading blogs, writing, etc., just trying to be more effective because I get easily sucked into writing emails/replies when I do. I got an email once from Seth Godin that was very concise and it worked beautifully well, he probably has hundreds a day.
I also love your small steps, big dream; how about Big Dream, Easiest Route? Then you can bypass unnecessary small steps!
PRLinkBiz, You are great! You’re right, we’re doing “think outside of the box” parenting, and hopefully our kids will see how they can do the same! Why NOT include kids in biz and teach them some fundamentals of what it takes to make a business work…excellent opporunities! When I had our kiosk my son loved pouring over the catalogs and telling me “what to buy” or what boys his age would like…
Simonne, it is true that if you focus on what is truly important then you might be “putting out the fires” all the time and not preparing for other things that need getting done, but there’s only 1 of you, so if you ask “what is the most important things to do today” you’ll usually know. Yesterday it was my son’s birthday, today it’s a business lunch.
Jamie, Great to see your input here! You are on the right path to figuring out “systems” for your business to grow, good for you! You’ll know which systems you need to retain control over (patterns, fabric selection likely), but PR, fulfillment, and customer service you can likely turn over. And babysitting? That’s very likely going to be a necessity likely if you want to grow and not get so burnt out from your “work when he’s asleep” strategy. I only have a sitter 10 hours a week and my kids love it.
I must stop second-guessing my ideas. When I come up with an idea, I’ll get pumped up, and then talk myself out of it.
I too must stop being a perfectionist (but maintain professionalism) and stop expecting my loved ones to be perfectionists as well.
I must stop sharing goals with those around me who don’t have faith that I can succeed. My affirmation: I will only share my goals with successful people and I will surround myself with positive people.
Julie,
How about saying:
I want to read your blog!
I have million-dollar ideas, when its the right time, I will implement them.
My mantra for overcoming my perfectionistic tendencies:
I will do the best I can with what I have: time, resources, experience, support, and trust it will be enough.
I will share my million dollar ideas when I feel inspired
Keep creating your dreams!
Boy oh boy, can I relate. I am a single mother of 2 girls (who are extremely active in school and outside extracurriculars), working full time as a webmaster/designer, finishing a 2nd masters, doing freelance design and working on starting a consultant business. For me, it seems as though there is never enough hours in the day and sometimes life is truly overwheleming. I am an entrepreneur at heart and I have always lived a slash life, but I understand that the tasks on my list will be there the next day, so there is no need to go stir crazy trying to complete them all before the day ends.
I find the most important thing for me is making sure I carve out time for myself EVERY NIGHT to reflect, read, pray, or whatever it is I need to do at that time to stay focused and EVERY Friday night is movie night for my girls and I. That is what I do to stay balanced and true to my family and myself.
Hi Naomi!
Wow, you ARE a busy Start up Princess! Good for you realizing that if we burn the candle at both ends there’s nothing left to give or receive, right?! Sounds like you know how to have fun, one of the hardest things to “fit in” sometimes.
I get up every morning and work on the computer before breakfast. I have started making myself stay off of the computer after breakfast until the kids and I get all our jobs done around the house. Once the house is clean I feel more relaxed and productive. This has been working so well for me because I feel better and get more done!
[...] Mom Entrepreneur Articles [...]