Being a woman entrepreneur and a mother at the same time, especially to young kids, is the toughest job in the whole wide world. Balancing both worlds that need your undivided attention, full time, is the most arduous task but achievable with a schedule in place along with some self-care. To be more fulfilled in work and life becomes imperative for running a successful business venture and living a healthy family life.
Time management skills realized through mindful scheduling, although daily routines should be scheduled habits are built on a few universal principles like keeping a flexible work routine, sharing meaningful time with people who are important in your life, making time for yourself and prioritizing health and wellness.
Being a mother and doing motherly chores is the hardest, and yet the most rewarding job out there. But when team it up with entrepreneurship, you get the most overworked professional- A Mompreneur.
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Most mompreneurs throw away self-care strategies out of the window to care for their families and kids.
How mompreneurs can achieve both professional and personal goals along with some self-care
An improved work-life integration that can be tailored to fit the lifestyle of mompreneurs will help them achieve goals in their professional and personal space. Following are the few tips:
Prioritize work schedule
Diligently following a daily schedule is more than creating a plan and following it. It is developing a system that suits your work and life circumstances. For example, utilize your extra time after finishing your daily chores in doing the most significant office tasks first followed by the insignificant tasks scheduled for the day. Your schedule should be strict and flexible which could be implemented appropriately.
Self-care strategies
Self-care strategies are critical to your health and sanity. Most mompreneurs throw away self-care strategies out of the window to care for their families and kids. If you work till you drop, being the queen of multi-tasking, if you are always tired and exhausted and your body asks for more sleep, then you should listen to your body, and mind. Lack of self-care strategies will only disrupt your mental and physical health. Self-care strategies work brilliantly if you divide business tasks with mom tasks efficiently so that none suffers, and you can serve both clients and family happily. Most mompreneurs pride themselves as being ‘multi-tasking’ masters. Managing many tasks and the ability to rapidly shift between priorities is a success indicator.
Fix time to work- And stick to it
If you have fixed 10am to 1pm as work time, then stick to it. Work during those hours with a focused mind. Mompreneurs can do so much within limited times because of their ability to focus and get things done without distraction. Your help can take care of kids while you finish that zoom meeting or in-person meetings over coffee, lunch or high tea in your office boardroom or somewhere else. Limit your social media time, shut down any distractions, manage interruptions, so that you stay focused on completing your business work.
Keep leisure time as leisurely as possible
Do not mix them with business work. Whether it’s a game nighttime, movie time, park time with kids or play date keep them intact, honor them. Keep your phone and ipad into silent mode. Keep your social media browsing time out, don’t let your gadgets, emails, creep in during your gym, yoga or work out time. Make a list of what activities you love to do and plan to do one daily for the next one week, month or a year. This way you make space for self-care and self-love which will keep you in a good mood.
Make time for yourself
In tandem to making quality time for work, kids and family, it is time to make time for yourself. It is not selfish to carve out time for your own needs every day, it is necessary to rejuvenate in that time that you get for yourself. If you take that time to re-energize your mind and spirit through experiences in nature, meditation, pursuing a hobby, reading, dancing you will be more efficient and productive for business work.
Without devoting meaningful time for self-care, you will find it difficult to have those quality conversations with family or create positive connections with employees, partners, co-workers.
Eat Healthy
What you eat is how you behave, working lunch occasionally is fine- like a sandwich and cup of cappuccino, but that cannot be an everyday food. Therefore, make a conscious effort to eat a healthy, well-balanced diet. Hire a dietician that will help you go for well-rounded food choices- including the right amounts of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates- that will balance your energy levels and helps you tackle your daily schedule leaving you feeling invigorated and accomplished.
Get Enough Sleep
Ironically, sleep deprivation is one of the most parts of our lives. “When my children were younger and I needed to work longer hours to get the business off the ground, I used to cut off sleep time, that didn’t augur well for me in the long run as it made me cranky, irritable, and unproductive,” says a Mompreneur. A mompreneur should work smarter not harder and prioritize getting enough sleep. Sleep allows our bodies to rest and repair, which not only improves our overall health and quality of life but also benefits work-essential functions like memory and alertness.
Spend quality time with Important people in your life
Prioritizing in sharing time with children, family, friends, becomes essential. It is important for them to know that you are available to them when they want to interact and talk about life, and for those moments to be meaningful. Invite them to your workplace and introduce them to your work colleagues so that they know that this is where mom spends time to make money and give them a comfortable life. Peace in familial relationships reduces stress and distractions, which inspires me to be more effective in business.
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The secret to finding the right kind of self-care is to find the things that make you happy when you do them.
Focus on you
It takes a lot to focus on ourselves Mompreneurs live a frantic life where we lose ourselves, forget even looking ourselves in the mirror, we lose the sheen on our face we had one day; therefore, we need to make consistent effort to put ourselves on the list of priorities in order to replenish ourselves and renew our own resources. Mothers forget taking care of themselves by caring for their kids and fending for them through her business work so focusing on herself will improve her lifestyle that will yield good for her. Go for the spa treatment you’ve been yearning for. Or a vacation to a beach or mountains with your friends, or social circle. Join a gym, yoga class together with them.
Finding the apt self-care
The secret to finding the right kind of self-care is to find the things that make you happy when you do them, i.e. when your body, mind and soul are happily engaged in any task that brings a sense of relief when we are feeling overwhelmed is self-care. Self-care is different for different individuals.
Breaking down your needs
The four different categories of self-care are: Emotional, Physical, Mental and Social. Emotional self-care activities let you touch base with your emotions and let you process feelings you are having. Be mindful of your feelings you are presently experiencing and then get busy with activity that makes you happy and content. For mental health, sign up for an online tutorial to learn something new, listen to a podcast, on a subject that interests you, read books you’ve bought and never read them. Physical health means resting, rejuvenating, or healthful for your body. For physical exercise you can run, hike, walk, do pilates, yoga, bike riding or playing a physical sport. For good health, drink plenty of fluids, eat healthy food, a plan you can stick to so it becomes a habit, sleep as much as you can realistically to rest your body, mind and soul. Set aside time to rejuvenate in a solitary environment where you can relax knowing there will be no disturbances as you recharge your batteries. Schedule a set date and time to meet with friends as often as possible- biweekly, bi-monthly whatever that suits your timetable with friends, family. Join a support group, book club, go to painting, pottery, cooking classes or any other activity that let you be creative and interact on a social level.
Never feel guilty
Amid all your home and business chores, it’s hard to schedule that guilt free time of pure fun, me time, of bliss and relaxation. But Self-care is very important and your ability to function in both your roles depends on it. Stop over burdening yourself with tons of responsibilities as it will do more harm to your body, mind and business than good. Schedule, shut down days- times when you switch off all the notifications, put on your headphones and disconnect from the world, focusing only on key business tasks at hand.
Build a Support system
To remain productive and in the right mind frame, you will need to build a strong useful, resourceful support system around you. Because so many people are dependent on you- your family, your clients, your team, employees, business partners. For this, learn to effectively delegate authority, choose a reliable person who can fill in for you in time of need. Give that veto power to someone.
Find your work-life balance
Find out an arrangement that works for you- to get that work life equilibrium because there will be never enough time to finish all your tasks- both business and at home with kids. Without establishing a proper work life balance one will constantly feel stressed about either aspects of life. If it means more time for your kids, so be it, never feel guilty.
Be Attentive to both sides
Whether you spend time with your family or grind at your work hours in office, your physical and mental presence in full is essential. Create a schedule to ensure that no side ends up with the short attention span.
Expand your team
Hire the best professionals to handle every aspect of your business. Have an incredible team to help you run your business successfully.
Solve big business problems first
For mompreneurs, it’s important that you do one major task first thing in the morning, so you feel accomplished on a daily basis.
Celebrate your success
By focusing on solving bigger business problems, you can see tangible results. Take time to celebrate those small and big wins, before you proceed for another big task, or finishing a minor one. It’s fine to postpone less important tasks for later or assign them to someone else.
Remind yourself why you are doing this
Remind yourself frequently why you are running your business- to grow professionally, improve your families income/ lifestyle, or enjoying the process of doing what you are passionate about.
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