6 TIPS TO HELP MUMS JUGGLE BUSINESS AND FAMILY.
After her last baby, Evelyn knew she had to let go of her corporate job. Being a mom wouldn’t let her truly pursue her goals in the firm and she wasn’t one to do things halfheartedly.
Once a workaholic will always be a workaholic and this rang true for Evelyn who couldn’t sit still without embarking on a new project. That was why immediately her baby clocked a year and some months she decided to start researching business options suitable for stay-at-home moms. Her research led her to start her oil perfume business as a means to bring in extra income to support her family but like most good things end, only six months into this business and She was ready to quit.
Why was she always tired, w which did she mix up orders often and still forget to shop for basic home necessities? These were a few of the questions that plagued her mind. Being overwhelmed was not a situation Evelyn was accustomed to so she had to find ways to deal with it.
If you are in this sinking boat like Evelyn and have searched for answers online and offline them this blog post will bring clarity to you and help you get over that phase of being always overwhelmed.
From experience, being a working mom is synonymous with the feeling of being overwhelmed as both jobs are quite challenging imagine what strain you would go through when you combine both.
That is why I created this blog post to serve as a guideline for moms trying to stay above the waters of Mompreneurship. I will be sharing with you 5 tips to help you juggle the Business world and your family without losing focus and neglecting any.
FIRST TIP: Everything that great women have achieved in one way or another has fallen in line with effective and efficient time management.
Time management has to do with prioritizing what is important at every point in time. It is what helps you have a productive day.
The more efficient you get at time management, the more easily you can breathe through the workload.
The first time management hack you should implement is reducing time spent online. Social media is such an addictive drug, it starts as a pain reliever, and with time develops into a habit that leads to an abuse of intent. We all come online to do something productive but distraction creeps in and you find yourself 3hrs later spent on unproductive scrolling through news feeds. Make time work for you by splitting your chores to fit into every hour you have that way your time is always accounted for.
SECOND TIP: UTILIZE YOUR TO-DO LISTS.
A to-do list helps you organize your numerous chores into one big board of structured activities. A to-do list serves the purpose of helping you prioritize work according to the level of importance.
One tip you can use is to group your chores, three major chores daily then sprinkle the minor chores into the time left after you have scheduled the major chores. Major chores could be inventory take, appointments, school visits, grocery shopping e.t.c while the minor chores include doing the dishes, folding clothes, replying to emails. This list should include both home chores and work chores as the goal is to learn to juggle all aspects of your work-family life and create a healthy balance.
Create your to-do list in a way that won’t drain you as that would defeat its purpose. If you can pick out the major jobs you have for the week and spread it through the seven days you have, you will come to appreciate the art that is scheduling and planning a to-do list.
3RD TIP: DECLUTTER YOUR SPACE: I bet you didn’t realize that there was a relationship between your cluttered space and your psychology.
Let me explain it to you when your house or office space has more clutter than is necessary, your mind interprets it as more work among the mile-high list of chores you already have waiting for its own time. Thoughts such as these lead to a rise in your stress levels inevitably hurting you both mentally and physically hence reducing productivity.
Make your workstation free from unnecessary clutter, remove from your sight anything you would not be needing at that particular point in time.
As for your home, get rid of clothes your family no longer needs, children’s toys they no longer play with, old furniture, you could choose to either donate them or discard them as long as they are cleared from the spaces they occupy.
FOURTH TIP: HAVE A MEAL TIMETABLE-
A meal timetable saves you hours of pondering the next meal, when you have a food timetable of sorts, it organizes your kitchen time and slashes it in half. But why stop at a meal timetable when you can delegate special meals to days, Monday could be rice day, Tuesdays for vegan meals all up till Sunday. This way you already know what each day brings and how to maneuver it.
Meals preps is another way to beat the house. What you do is pick a day to prep meals ahead of time, then store the extra in the freezer so that on your lazy days you only need to defreeze and complete the cooking session.
FIFTH TIP: PUT SYSTEMS IN PLACE – Systems are preparation you make beforehand to help you scale effortlessly through tasks.
An example would be a situation where at the start of every week you prepare outfits for the week, iron them, and set them on hangers. This exercise lets you save the valuable time you would otherwise lose in searching for outfits daily. But why stop at you, do the same with the kid’s clothes.
* Another way is by prepping lunch boxes the night before.
* Setting up scheduled posts for social media pages.
What you can’t handle alone, you could outsource to the kids, friends, and partner. Make sure you don’t carry the burden alone.
Better still automate your systems, get a housekeeper, automate email responses, your social media messages this lets you work on other things without feeling like your business is suffering a lack of attention.
SIXTH TIP: TAKE IT ONE AT A TIME: Yes we have learned that multitasking is always in the negative but what if I demonstrated to you a way to make multitasking a positive move.
James Clear in his book atomic habits talked about productive multitasking. He called it Activity Bundling it means working on something that is a chore and adding in an activity you enjoy. Example folding clothes and watching Tv another example is using kitchen time as a family bonding session by engaging the kids in tasks in the food preparation process while discussing school and life.
You could be grocery shopping and also catch up with friends over the phone using a wireless earpiece.
This multitasking medium allows you to use the one-time frame to do two productive things.
BONUS TIP: TAKE LAZY DAYS- for a mechanical engine to run effectively, it goes through a servicing program that keeps it in good condition. Likewise, you should learn to take days off and unplug, this will make sure you are always in top form.
The role of rest cannot be overemphasized for the human body.
So dear mom take rests when due, take time off to relax and unwind. Meditation is also a good choice of relaxation.
Start your day Focused on the task with the highest return on investment. The task that will give you the greatest sense of accomplishment when you start with these tasks, will push you to continue on the energy you started within the first place.
Being a successful Mompreneur is all about patience, it won’t fall into place at once, but slowly and surely you will win the race.
* Be patient: with your mistakes,
* Set goals so you celebrate every Win
* Invest in your growth: read books, listen to podcasts, make sure you keep learning ways to improve your work/home-life balance.
* Don’t be shy to ask for help: Ask your family to support you, ask friends for assistance to help you babysit, ask your employees to take on more roles. This is to ensure you don’t break down.
* Indulge in stress-relieving activities such as yoga, meditation, running, sleeping, and make sure you eat well, balanced diets preferably. Have snacks to refuel whenever you feel your energy depleting.
I hope these 6 tips have helped you learn how you can make it work for both your family and work without any suffering losses.
Juggling both families and is a chore in itself, but remembering why you became a work-from-home Mother is enough to move you past any feelings of being overwhelmed.
If you still have any questions do leave them in the comments section where I can read and reply to them accordingly.