Let’s face it, it is getting harder and harder to manage all the responsibilities that come with being a mompreneur especially during this season we are in right now.
During the season, mompreneurs are facing a time of transition.
What you may have found is that the way you previously had life set up, the life that you have known for so long is now thrown out of whack.
Many mompreneurs around the world are facing challenges right now.
Whereas you may have previously run your business from home, while your kids attended school or daycare, now you are finding your house full with kids and family at all hours of the day.
Moms are having to homeschool/help their children with remote learning while trying to successfully run a business, and keep up with all the other duties and responsibilities that come along with motherhood.
As if you didn’t have a lot on your plate already, now more than ever you are finding yourself trying to keep up and juggle everything and if you are not careful, you will quickly find yourself feeling overwhelmed, frustrated, and ready to throw in the towel.
However, I encourage mompreneurs to hang in there.
You are not alone.
Right now, mompreneurs just like you are trying to manage and make the most of these uncertain times.
It is natural during this time to want to put on your superwoman cape and dive right in, but soon you will find yourself running in circles, going through the motions, and trying to figure it all out while making the best of each and every day.
This may seem okay to you, but honestly, you cannot sustain this pace for too long.
You will burn yourself out.
The good news is even though you have so much going on in your life, with a plan and the right strategy, you can manage family, business, and all the things in between.
Here are my top 5 tips to help you skyrocket your productivity as a mompreneur during this season.
5 Mompreneur Hacks
1. Make a List and Evaluate How You Spend Your Time in Life and in Business
Often mompreneurs take for granted the number of things they have on their plate.
If you are going to get a handle on your productivity, you have to know what is going on in all areas of your life at any given time.
You can make a list to where you list out all you have going on in all areas of your life.
Or you can do an activity that I use and all my clients love, the “what’s on your plate?” activity.
For this activity, I want you to get a paper plate and some colorful pens or markers.
Now write down everything you have going on in all areas of your life. This includes work, motherhood, kids’ activities, relationships, home life, ministry obligations, etc.
After you have filled your plate with all you have going on, now it’s up to you to evaluate just how you spend your time. Take a look at it and really think about all you have going on.
What are your roles, duties, and responsibilities? How much time are you spending on mindless or unnecessary activities?
What things can you eliminate from your life so you don’t feel so overwhelmed? Use questions like this to help you get a sense of how you are spending your time.
From there, you will need to start to eliminate and delegate some things on your plate.
You (or your kids) don’t have to be involved in every activity. You don’t have to do everything alone. You have a family for a reason. It’s up to you to use your resources and get everyone involved to take some of the load off of you.
This lifestyle inventory will give you a visual of all you have going on, and help you identify the areas you can cut back, eliminate, or seek help.
Get your plate and get to work.
2. Set Clear Boundaries
After you have an idea of how you spend your time and all you have going on, then you can start to set boundaries around how you will/won’t spend your time.
You have to know what you will and won’t accept in life and in business. You have to know your limits and where you draw the line.
Boundaries are a must in all areas of life. Set your boundaries and make them known.
As a mompreneur, you are ONE person and it is up to you to preserve your energy and protect your peace by setting and sticking to your boundaries.
For some reason, we think that we are supposed to be available all the time to everyone for everything. But guess what, mompreneur? That’s not the case.
You have every divine right to set boundaries around your time, your availability, the things you will accept, and the things you won’t accept. So now’s the time to start setting boundaries.
You are a person, you have needs. You have a job to get done.
The only way to get people to respect your time and space is to set clearly defined boundaries in all areas of your life… work, business, clients, kids, significant others, personal, etc.
Schedules and routines help with boundaries.
Set up a schedule, put your kids on a schedule for their schoolwork, put yourself on a schedule for the work that you have to get done, and then stick to that schedule the best way you can.
However, be realistic when setting your boundaries.
As a mompreneur, you have to maintain flexibility in business and in life. Keep this in mind when you are setting your boundaries.
3. Establish Priorities and Plan Out Your Day
Priorities are everything.
Stop trying to multitask and set your priorities.
Multitasking leaves you with many incomplete and unfinished tasks.
Instead of multitasking, aim to set your priorities for each day.
From your long to-do list, choose your top 3 priorities of each day and focus on completing those. Once you have your priorities set for the day work on focusing on one thing at a time.
Multitasking is not a thing, so let it go.Try designating a specific time for each task and setting a timer to keep you moving along from task to task.
Another way to help with prioritization is to designate certain days to certain tasks.
Instead of trying to work on everything every day, start to assign days to complete certain tasks.Some people call it batching.
I’m calling your designation. People tend to talk about it, in the nature of batching content, batching tasks, those types of things.
However, what I am encouraging you to do is pick a day and dedicate to specific tasks.
For instance, Mondays could be your administrative days where you go through all the administrative tasks in your business, such as responding to and clearing out emails, setting your schedule, paying bills, etc.
Tuesdays and Wednesdays you could dedicate to client calls and client work.
Thursdays may be content creation day or another administrative day, depending on your needs. While Fridays could be for networking and collaboration.
However, this looks for you, make it work on your terms.
You can even apply this to your home life.
You could have a meal planning and prep day where you schedule and/or cook your family’s food for the week. You have days that are designated for laundry, cleaning your bathrooms, vacuuming your floors, sweeping, etc.
If you designate certain tasks to certain days, then you will feel more like that complete or finisher and have a sense of accomplishment because you’re not running around trying to multitask and do all the things at the same time.
This even helps with choosing your top 3 priorities. If you know that Mondays are your administrative days then you can choose what are your top 3 administrative tasks you need to complete that day and get it done.
Productivity is all about finding systems that work for you and making them work for you.
4. Streamline, Automate, and Delegate Your Systems and Processes
Speaking of systems.
You need to get your systems and processes in order. Systems are a lifesaver.
As a mompreneur, you need to find a way to automate and delegate as many tasks as possible.
Have you ever looked at all the things you have going on and all the different places that you are storing information and important communications, especially in business and life.
You have so many things you are working on at one time and you’re asking yourself, did I remember to send that email? Did I remember to contact this person? Did I remember to do this? Did I remember to do that?
You have a constant wheel turning your head, trying to remember all the different components that you have going on, not only in business but also in life.
By streamlining your systems, you eliminate the need to sign in to multiple systems to handle various tasks.
Within these systems, start to find ways to automate repetitive tasks.
This could be emails and communications that you find you send frequently, invoices, contracts, etc. By setting up automatic workflows for your mompreneur business, you will find that you save not only time but also energy.
I’m encouraging mompreneurs during this season to find a way to streamline and automate your systems as much as possible.
If you’re running your own business, taking care of your home, and with all that you have going on, this really is a necessity.
It will truly save you some time on the back end.
It will free up your time so that you can work more in your business instead of working on your business, you could do more of the things you love and enjoy in life without being bogged down by repetitive tasks.
Lastly, if you are in a position to hire an assistant or a team then do it now.
By hiring help for your business, you will free yourself up to focus on the bigger tasks that come along with running a business.
5. Take Care of Yourself
Of all the tips that I’ve given, I feel this is the most important tip of them all.
Don’t get caught up in the hustle.
Don’t get so caught up in the work, so caught up in the kids and the family that you forget to simply take care of yourself.
As you may have heard said before, you cannot run on empty.
You cannot keep going with an empty tank with a cup that’s depleted.
You have to fill your cup first. If that means taking some time to practice some self-care, whether that’s quiet time, taking a walk, having your favorite tea or beverage, or just resting, be sure to squeeze self-care into each day.
You are the most important person on your to-do list.
If you have a long to-do list and you are not on that list something is wrong.
Go to that list right now and for number one at the top, write your name and make yourself the top priority on your list every day.
Even if it’s just 10 to 15 minutes a day find a way to take care of yourself.
You are no good to anyone when you are burnt out, tired, or just miserable because you’re not filling up your own tank first.
You set the tone for your house.
Everyone’s energy is gonna vibe and run off of yours. If you’re down or depleted then everyone will feel that and it will have a trickle-down effect. It’s up to you to do what you need to do to take care of yourself.
Then you can show up as your best self, not only for yourself but for everyone else around you.I challenge you to go out and do what you need to do to take care of yourself today.
Also, give yourself some grace.
Don’t be too hard on yourself.
Don’t let the mom guilt creep in.
You are not a superhero, you are a human being with feelings, thoughts, and emotions.
Every day is not going to be your best day. Allow yourself to feel the feels, just don’t get stuck there.
The important thing is to take steps each day towards bettering your time management and productivity skills.
Recap for Mompreneurs
- Do a lifestyle inventory
- Be realistic and set clear boundaries
- Plan out your day
- Streamline, automate and delegate
- Take care of yourself
The above tips should serve as a guide to help you increase and maximize your productivity from day-to-day. Realize that changing habits is a process and not a single event, so it will take time to make the necessary adjustments in your life.
Work on implementing the above steps one by one so that you don’t overwhelm yourself.
Remember, if you don’t get it right today, tomorrow is a new day and a chance to have a fresh start.
Give yourself some grace and get it done. You’ve got this!
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