Time Savers: Balancing Parenthood and Business

I wanted to chat time saving strategies for women in small business who are also juggling families . Here are some tips that help me as a Mother of 4 and running a business:

1. Prioritization: Make a list of your most important tasks and focus on them first. I make one for "family" and one for "business" Delegate or eliminate tasks that are low-priority or can be handled by someone else

2. Time Blocking: Schedule specific times during the day to complete specific tasks, and stick to the schedule as much as possible (there will be much more on this in my new Marketing Academy)

3. Flexible Work Arrangements: Consider flexible work arrangements such as working from home or part-time, which can help balance family and work responsibilities. Example: I just bought a pilates reformer and I do my online at home classes at 10pm!!! That is the only way I can fit it in right now and so be it.

4. Automation: Use technology to automate repetitive tasks and free up more time for important work.

5. Outsource: Outsource tasks such as bookkeeping, cleaning, marketing, and administrative work to free up time for other priorities. I can not do it all so I work out where my time is best spent and outsource.

6. Family Support: Get support from your spouse or other family members to help with household and child-care responsibilities. I have the most incredible support in my Husband - he has currently 6 months off for parental leave - but beside this we have little to no free support so we have had to get comfortable paying for babysitters and using daycare. Atm we spend over 27K per year.... ouch!

7. Self-Care: Make time for self-care activities such as exercise, meditation, or hobbies to recharge and reduce stress. Once a month on a Friday I do something for me, it might be getting my hair done or my nails - or even a massage. I need it and look very much forward to it! 

8. Simplify: Streamline processes and simplify routines to reduce time spent on non-essential tasks. Eg: I "cook once" but "we eat twice". Every second night I cook two meals on for that night and one for the next - it hugely helps! 

9. Boundaries: Set boundaries between work and home life to avoid burnout and ensure a healthy work-life balance. This is much easier said than done.... but over time and as I get older I am clearer on my boundaries which is ulitmately what helps me juggle parenting and working!

Hope some of these tips help!

 
NM