Today, I’m sharing some tips from the days when I was a full-time stay-at-home mom with no babysitter or nanny. I’m going to share how I was able to build my online business during that time. If you’re here for it, then keep reading. Being a work-at-home mom with even one toddler, which was me at the time, is literally no joke. If that’s you too, then fist bump for solidarity! If you have more than one running around, I don’t know how you do it. That’s amazing that you’re even attempting to build a business with all that you have on your plate.
5 Work From Home Mom Tips
I want to give you some tips on how you can maximize productivity, so that you can still strive towards your goals. Don’t forget…you’re allowed to have goals. You’re allowed to build a business in the midst of motherhood. It’s not easy, but you can do it if you honor your pace and season in life. It’s honestly harder than we may think it is when we look on social media and we see these mamas just crushing it. We think: why can’t I do that too?
Remember, we don’t know the behind the scenes of anyone’s lives. I’m gonna give you the down and dirty of mine, so at least I can peel back the curtains for you on on that end, I definitely experienced flickers, sometimes larger than flickers, of mom guilt. At the end of the day, I wish I could go back and tell myself at the end of the day, what I do makes me really happy. I truly believe that the best freaking gift that we can give our children is a mama who is whole and happy.
1. Multitask Things That Don’t Require Your Full Focus
There are tasks like writing a blog or social media post, recording a podcast and things like that require your full focus and attention, but there are business tasks that can be done while multi tasking. For example, checking and responding to emails and messages while walking at an incline on the treadmill at the gym. You’re getting in your workout while taking care of a task that doesn’t really require your full focus.
Take time to think of ways that you can do simple tasks that you can combine with something you already do within your day. When you do get those precious time blocks every once in a while, you don’t wanna spend it doing menial tasks that you could have done when you were sitting on the toilet, right?
You’ll want to reserve tasks that really require all your energy, attention, and focus for those precious little windows of time that you may get to solely work on your business.
2. Invest In Earphones
In Episode 16 of the Maverick Momprenuer podcast, we talked about the importance of personal development. In this season where you’re very limited on time while you work from home, earphones or Airpods are going to be a huge help! You can be listening to an audible book, podcast, voice messages or a work training video while you cook dinner, blow dry your hair, or snuggle on the couch with your little one. This will help maximize the very limited devoted work time that you may have to things that need your full attention.
3. Join A Gym
I highly recommend finding and becoming a member at a gym that has childcare and a place you can work. This was the key for me for at least a good year. I went to a gym called Lifetime Fitness and split the childcare time that we were allotted as part of our membership between a workout and work about four days a week. That was my saving grace, especially when Taylor was not in preschool. Once she was in preschool, it was four hours, two days a week. So not a ton of time, I used that dedicated time to work on things that had to do with my business, but before that lifetime fitness was absolutely my saving grace.
4. Start Time Blocking
Start by finding blocks of time: 2, 3, or even 4 hours. When you’re in super hustle mode, have a launch coming up or a big promotion finding those time blocks is going to be a huge help. Back in the day, my ex-husband traveled a lot for work, and when he would be away and Taylor was asleep, I would work on a post or a project for a few hours at a time. I would get so much done with time blocking versus trying to fit things in every nook and cranny of the day.
I have the tasks that I’m gonna do blocked out a week in advance. As soon as I sit down and have that time to work, I just go right to it. Now, I’m not perfect! Sometimes I might need to spend that time taking a nap or going for a workout without doing any work or reading. You just have to listen to your body and take care of yourself.
Most of the time, honestly, it feels like the complete opposite of balance. You’re an ambitious woman. You want to do everything and implement all your business brain children right now. The important thing is that you take a few steps forward towards your vision, and goals every day. This is not the season for you to do a full court press. You have to go at your pace and honor your season. Don’t quit because it seems like there’s never enough time. There will get to be a season when you do have more time.
5. Invest In A Virtual Assistant
One of the first investments that I would recommend you make in building your branded business is investing in working with a virtual assistant before you feel like you can even afford it. Remember, your time is your biggest asset and currency, right. If you can pay for someone to offload hours of work per week affordably with virtual assistance, or people to help with specific tasks on Fiverr.com or Upwork.com that will enable you to scale your business.
I started working with a virtual assistant two years ago. It was be right before I wanted to launch my current online business coaching. I invested in a virtual assistant before it really made a ton of sense to be spending the kind of money, but it was how I was able to literally double my income and hit six figures for the first time. I was able to work on the things that required my brain, my personality, and my energy like content creation pieces instead lot of administrative desk work type of things.
6. Give Yourself Grace
There isn’t enough time for dreams as big as I know that yours are. That’s okay! In a year in six months in two years, you’ll still be surprised at how much you accomplish. If you continue to show up intentionally for your brand. And most importantly, for your audience, even just a little bit each day, it’s better to be consistent with a little than to go hard and burn out, be completely out of balance and have your, what is the, what am I I’m searching for the word executive functioning, just go to crap.
But in this season, your priority is showing up intentionally every day for your kids and you’re doing a great job. There’s a quote by CS Lewis that says “Children are not a distraction from more important work. They are the most important work.” That’s something that I want you to keep in mind. It may feel like a struggle, but remember the days are long, but the years are short.
I look back on how consumed I would become while trying to build my business and wanting to really escalate things because I felt like I had to and I needed to, and missed some moments by having my face in my phone. Goodness, I wish I had taken this advice even more to heart.
Let’s Wrap It Up
I hope this has been helpful for you. You doing amazing. It’s not easy and you’re crushing it. Just remember there’s a lot of life. The most important thing is for you to not quit, do not beat yourself up for not being able to accomplish all of these huge things that you want to do because you will. It’s just a matter of time. I believe in you. You’re doing awesome!
If you’d like to hear even more about how to find your zone of genius and how it can take you and your business to new heights, check out the full episode on the Maverick Momprenuer podcast HERE.
Ready to connect with other women who are on a journey to make an income and impact? Join Elevate Academy For Brand-Building Marketers & Maverick Mompreneurs™.
