How do you balance Entrepreneurship & Parenthood?
I am still adjusting to all sorts of things happening around me. Jasmine’s new sleeping schedule, mommy’s pile of work that needs to be done (making jewelry for 2 main events, here on Okinawa, Japan), chores, blogging and so on… it just seems like it never ends or feels complete (pull out hair)!!! Are you wondering how I manage Entrepreneurship & Parenthood?
It’s not easy, but taking small steps really helps in the long run! I spoke with two entrepreneur mom’s and this is what they are struggling with on a daily basis.
From Jennifer, mom of 2 (3.5 and 1.5 years):
My son has been going to his school for a little over 1.5 years, and likes it some day but hates it others. He’s 3.5 years old. It hurts my heart some days when he would rather stay home and I’m making him go. My daughter has been going to 3 weeks and still cries every day all day. She’s 1.5 years old. She won’t even take a nap. I feel like I should be able to keep them but it’s impossible to work while they are home and not fair. I can’t neglect them for 3 hours so I get work done. Then, there’s the $$. It’s cheaper than going full-time to the CDC or some of the American geared preschools that are off base, but it’s still a couple hundred bucks a month per kid. I feel like besides the portion of money going towards paying business expenses, the rest is going towards childcare so there is no profit.
Honestly, I don’t do it for profit anyways. I do it because I love it so the profit is one of my lesser concerns but I don’t want unhappy kids. I don’t want to seem selfish by making them go to preschool 3 days a week from 9-4 while I do what I want and they are miserable. I’ve thought about setting up a schedule to work after my husband is home, maybe 7-11 at night after my husband is home for 2 nights a week but I don’t even know if that’ll work. I’m a night owl and more creative at night but I don’t want my husband overwhelmed either. I’m so lost right now and don’t know what the right thing is.
From Kristal, mom of 1 (4-year-old):
As a small business owner, a mother, and wife. I find the hardest parts of the “balancing act” is actually the feeling of being torn between work and pleasure.
Since my hobby became my job I find that my husband has to ‘tear “me away from my office” to do things.
My son goes to a day care program that specializes in preparing children for preschool. He goes there full time and enjoys spending time with his friends and loves his teachers.
My husband and I raise our son strict and with old school values. As like many parents I worry and I have concerns for my son but I don’t have worries that anyone else is raising my child because my husband and I have exceptions and guidelines for our child to be a healthy and productive gentleman.
On the weekdays I have a set schedule with hours of operation. When business hours are over, the internet gets shut off and I begin my time as a mother. It is difficult for me to shut the business part of myself off while I am off duty.
I struggle with that a lot but surprisingly my son has helped me unwind.
In order for me to keep on the schedule I create lists and do brain dumps to allow creative flow and productivity. I struggle with multi-orders, back office, and social media.
10 Tips how to balance Entrepreneurship & Parenthood
- The key is to schedule out as much as you can but maintain some flexibility. It helps to have a set workday, but be aware that if you wake up and your child is sick, it’s going to mean shifting things around.
- When you leave your office/work, make sure to leave it at that, focus on your children after your work hours.
- Whether you’re working on your business or playing with your kids, instead of always thinking about what’s next or what you’ve not done yet, invest in and enjoy every single moment. You’ll never get it back.
- Children thrive on routine, so develop and honor certain rituals like family dinner, bedtime, or movie night. Make sure that no matter what’s going on, they can depend on you to be there during those key times.
- Take a time-out; yes, even adults need them – in a good way. If you’re working from home, actually stepping away from work briefly and periodically to walk around the block or paint your toenails on the deck can actually help recharge you and put you in a better mood.
- Hire a sitter or nanny while you are working, if you don’t feel comfortable leaving your child at a daycare, consider a home sitter. Great for breastfeeding mom’s that work from home!
- Organize your Mother-ship; start by centralizing some of the tasks that you find yourself doing each day, If you blog, tweet, and post on facebook, consider managing those applications in one place like the social media dashboard HootSuite. The same goes to your to-do lists as well as syncing family and work calendars.
- Make it a practice to answer your e-mails and return messages as soon as you can (I check and answer mine while in bed, when Jasmine is still sleeping). There is nothing like a buildup of correspondence that can turn downright unmanageable if left neglected, you may also loose potential customers!
- Working at home has its vices, especially when the kitchen is within a few feet of where you are working. To combat junk food snacking, stash healthful energy snacks like almonds, fruit, and yogurt.
- Don’t forget to sleep; Although evenings are invaluable for moms to design and create, there is a price for overindulging in too many late nights. Sleep deprivation can wreak havoc on your body, your mind, and the quality of your work and time with your little ones. It may help to front-load your sleep (that is, sleep before 10pm) and wake up by 5am to begin your day’s “morning shift”.
RELAX: Be realistic about Motherhood
Motherhood isn’t about sainthood. Do what works best for you and your family and don’t beat yourself up with comparisons.
So, this is my question to you How do you balance Entrepreneurship & Parenthood?
If you have a great tip that worked for you, please share. I would also love to hear what other mom’s are going through, what are you struggling with? Hope we can all help each other in finding the perfect balance.
thanks for sharing your tips! I’m not technically a mother, but I’m in a similar life situation. I struggle with claiming “me” time and explaining the little one why I can’t play with him whenever he wishes. I’d also like to find more solitary activities for him (he’s 5), but I’m failing miserably. when I was a kid, I didn’t mind activities on my own, like coloring, pretend playing etc., but he doesn’t want to do anything alone for more than 5 minutes.
Your issue reminds me very much of a situation I was in about 6 years ago. When I first met my stepson, I had no clue what I was doing and everything seemed not good enough.
With kids you have to invest a great amount of time, they need to feel secure, loved and happy where they at. And eventually they will start playing on their own. But it also depends on how he/she grew up the first 5 years of their life, if mom always played with him, he will most likely want to play with mom instead of alone!
If you have the option to call over a friend with a child at his age, do it -to see if he would let you go, so he can play with him or her.
I would also recommend this site: http://singleparents.about.com/od/parenting/a/encourage_play.htm