Running a business and managing a family is like having two fulltime jobs but on steroids. It’s a 24-hour ordeal and something you can’t put a snooze button to. I understand this all too well.
Having two babies (11-months apart), launching two businesses and moving twice, all in two years, I sure lost my fair share of sleep. What I didn’t know where many of these 41 tips (damn I wished I had!). Hopefully, there are a few things in here that will help you get a better sleep starting tonight!
Balance. What is it really?
Some say it's an even split between working and everything that comes after it. Well, as a parent, your 9-5 doesn't stop once you clock-out. Nope. You merely put on another hat called Mom. This job arguably more complicated and more important than the one that pays you (have we uncovered the ROI of parenting yet?), seemingly takes away from the balance we think we need. What if I told you that being a mom IS balance? Sure it's hard, and your days are often filled with bullshit from colleagues and then kid-shit in diapers, but this is life! Embrace. Enjoy. Rejoice. It only gets easier.
While I often cringe at the term work-life 'balance,' I use it in this post because it's one that most people recognize. My go-to name is work-life integration (pssst, if you haven't seen our Integrated Life video yet, then you should.) Why 'integration'? Because it's the art of incorporating and unifying all facets of your life; mind, body, career, relationships, and spirituality. The all mesh into one another, are rarely ever balanced and is why I think integration is a more fitting word.
There was a time when coding was new and unexplored by those other than the nerds in the back room. As the years have progressed, coding skills have become more important and needed. It had to because it has increasingly become an integral part of our lives. As more apps and platforms are being developed, the need for even more experienced developers is becoming apparent.
Screentime is still essential because it gives kids a creative outlet to build, learn logic and sequencing, and expand their minds. It’s also a universal skill and comes with no bias or preconceived notions. More importantly, it is something that is taught to kids as young as three! I know this because I had my boys playing around with coding apps as soon as we let them on an iPad.
Since coding is one of the most desirable skills for the future, it’s time to rethink your screentime approach and consider some educational programs for your kids.
I remember the morning so clearly. I was brewing my husband and me coffee while he was making breakfast, and I asked him about a business thing he was planning. He replied that he wasn't doing it anymore, which really surprised me.
"But why?" I asked. "You've been talking about this for a while."
He replied, "New information."
With his experience and now new knowledge, he realized that this endeavor was not going to help his business grow and in fact, it was going to be more of a distraction than anything. He knew better.
It’s very common for entrepreneur parents to feel guilty if they are unable to dedicate time for their kids, especially during the week. Societal norms, conditioning and the constant need to be the best at everything puts pressure on high performers to be present and to spend the right amount of time with their loved ones.
The guilt and the lack of being present make us search for the best tips and advice we can find to function properly as business owners and parents. Undertunely there is no silver bullet. It’s a lot of constant testing and tweaking routines and systems, and experimenting with different parenting approaches to find a solution that works at the time. What works now for your family won’t work for you in a few months or years down the road. Schedules change and with that means a change in routine.
I don’t at all believe in the two-principal rule: You can be great at business, family, or health, but only two things at the same time (swap in whatever three big things are most important to you). The trifecta, but without the tri. It begs the question: Can you have it all as a parent and entrepreneur?
Sure.
I guess. But it’s really about what you want and how you want to feel?
I have seen many parents go to great lengths to help their children avoid disappointment, anxiety, heartbreak, and adversity. As a mom myself, I relate. But by doing so, these parents are avoiding some of life’s most important learning opportunities. That is, how to cope with disappointment and how to be resilient. My mom did that with me as I was mending my broken heart.
If you can take away one awfully dreaded task each week, you will work your way up to gaining hours of freedom each month. After all, multitasking is killing you.
While many delegation tools are great for some tasks (especially team and/or work-related tasks), sometimes they won’t easily apply to family or household tasks. So, I’ve developed a way to make it work for every situation.
I was quickly starting to feel disconnected from my own boys. Work was all consuming. I was losing sleep at night not just because I had a newborn, but because I was always so worried about work. Worried about clients, employees, plans, and travel. Worried about maintaining profit margins, my image, growth, my companies reputation. It was 24 hours a day of worry ON TOP of typical mommy guilt and worrying about my kids. I needed to keep up with ‘the plan’. Grow it to $500k, then past a million. Plan to be world class and a dominant force in the PR world. Keep a clean and tidy house. Make sure the kids are clean and happy and have all the things they needed, with NO help. No nanny, no extra cleaning lady, no on-call handyman to fix things.
It was k-i-l-l-i-n-g me.
