Boss Mum: How to Manage Time as a Mother With a Business.
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If you’re a mother and a business owner, it’s safe to say that your life is far from dull. As I am also both things, I stand with you in this exclusive group of strong and empowered women who are ‘doing it.’ It’s also crucial to acknowledge however, that it is really really really hard work, with often very little praise and plenty of exhaustion. The idea of fear and exhaustion as a business-owner Mum can also be read about here. Raising a family, being actively engaged in the household affairs, and steering a business to success can make your head dizzy just thinking about it. Having said that, it is still important to buckle up, be pragmatic and deal with the tasks at hand – one of those tasks is how to manage your time wisely, so that you can continue wearing your ‘Boss Mum’ title with pride. Here are five tips to create a happy balance:
1. Manage your expectations:
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Managing your expectations is important with a business and this is where your communication skills need to be tip top. If for example, you have a client who needs work completing by a certain time, then you must be realistic about that time frame and make sure it also works for you. Another great tip when starting out my business, was to give your expertise freely and friendly, without expecting anything in return. That way, I was able to build trust and relationships, and invest my time in the right places, and when the paid work came, I was ready.
2. Learn to say no!
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This one is so crucial for setting yourself up for success and not failure. Whilst the desire to work every hour under the sun to grow your business and be present for all your child/children’s activities; as time goes on, this is going to be very impossible and lead to major burnout where yourself, children and business will all be suffering. Learning to say no to certain tasks or projects is daunting at first (because there is always a worry that the work will then dry up) but ultimately, it is an act of both courage and strength as you sacrifice potentially paid work and/or exposure in favour of family time.
3. Set your boundaries:
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This is much in line with managing expectations and learning to say no but setting boundaries with both your business and your child/children is an important initial step when managing both entities. Having set working hours or set ‘family’ hours keeps the two sides of your life distant and separated and this creates a distinct difference between home life and work life. Many times, work is required to bring home, but it is your responsibility to find that time, when for example, the children are asleep to complete this.
4. Allocate non-negotiables:
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Non-negotiables have a strong presence in my house and (so far) they seem to be working well. Personally, I have a ‘no device’ policy with my children because I think that they are too young (don’t worry I am not about to convince you to do the same, you do what works for you!) But an effective non-negotiable is having ‘conversation time’ (usually around dinner time), to discuss our day and to think of one exciting thing which happened in our day. This not only builds strong communication relationships, but it sets the work-life aside.
5. Planning in advance:
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I find that planning in advance often helps to balance time management between business life and motherhood. Sometimes things can be planned far in advance (like set meeting dates, or swimming lessons) and sometimes things can be planned the day before (like a play date). If you realise that plans can and do change, generally time management in this way, is very effective.
I really feel that you can juggle motherhood and be a business owner, and be totally fantastic at both, but it is not for the faint-hearted. Quite often there are tough days where all this advice goes flying right out of the window, and some days it goes so smooth you feel on top of the world. In the words of Dory, ‘Just keep swimming….’
