Why your kids need you to protect your work time

The constant triage of mamahood never really goes away—do I finish making dinner, or stop my boy from wiping Vaseline on our suede couch? (My boy really did this. Ahh!) Do I watch my pregnant friend’s kids for her while she goes to the doctor or take my girl to dance practice?

These kinds of questions get more complicated as a business owner, especially if you work at home part (or all) of the time: Do I play outside with my kids or stick them in front of the TV while I work on marketing content? Do I finish the laundry or schedule meetings with clients?

Your attention will always be desired by more people, activities, and goals than may seem humanly possible. Even for a super mama like you!

But fear not. What you CAN do is protect your time by scheduling specific “chunks” that are dedicated to your business.

It may seem counterintuitive, but when you protect work time, you’re also protecting time for your family.

Why is this?

We’ve met with moms who feel overwhelmed with the time required to run a business. It feels like they are constantly checking their email or on social media. And they want that to change.

They want to be present, happy moms. They also want to climb after business dreams. We fully believe BOTH are possible. But it requires protecting your time.

When you protect your work time, you are showing your kids:

·         Your work matters to you.

·         You set healthy boundaries.

·         You honor the creative process.

·         You value what you’re sharing with the world.

·         You will be available to them when your work time is over.

That last one is important – without setting specific times to work, you risk blending business and family so there’s no intelligible difference between the two. That’s “anything goes” territory becomes an exhausting, overwhelming downfall for too many mamas in business. It’s not fun for you, your partner, or your kids to have an overworked mama.

So don’t let it happen to you. Schedule work time, and stick to it.

Does this make you selfish? No, Mama. Think about the commitments your kids have. For example, if your son is on a soccer team, you both know he’ll spend Tuesdays from 4-6 at practice and Saturday afternoons at games.

Do the same for yourself. Schedule a babysitter for the hours you want to commit to your business, and show up. Get your work done. Then when you get back to your kids, you’re fully present. And we think a mama who values herself and what she’s sharing with the world is the best gift she can give her kids.

We’d love to help! To identify your best time blocks and create an ideal life/work situation that works for your work, schedule a PowerStep Session.