Nanny to Mommy

As a mom, it can be so challenging to feel like you have anything outside of motherhood. Time to shower? Maybe. Workout? Sometimes. Running your own business (no matter what that business is)? Haha… I know that it can feel this way at times, but that does not mean that it has to be like this.

As moms, we deserve time to ourselves and we deserve time to build our lives and businesses - and allow them to flourish. But, it can seem very overwhelming on a daily basis and sometimes we might not think that it is possible to flourish. If you want to stop feeling overwhelmed as a mom and as a business owner, you need to start making things happen for yourself. You can CHOOSE how to live your life and how to take charge of your life. Will it be hard? Sometimes - of course. But, you’ll also have some great days where things are very easy, too. If you aren’t sure where to start when it comes to feeling less overwhelmed, you are in a good place. You can start here. Here are a few things that you can implement when you are learning how to stop feeling overwhelmed as a business owner and mom.

First of all, let’s address self-care. If you read my first few sentences and agreed that it is hard to find time to shower and work out, you really need this tip. Trust me - I know the struggle. Some days it might actually feel very hard, but it’s always worth it when you carve out that time. You have to take care of yourself in order to take care of those around you! Simple ways that you can set aside time for yourself:

-Carve out an hour or more every single day for yourself. Take this time to focus on yourself. Journal, read, work out, take a nap, take a bath, dry brush, paint your nails. Do whatever you need to do to make it feel like you have time to take care of yourself.

-Once a day, carve out more time to shower and do your hair. Maybe this is at the end of the day so that you can prepare for the next day, or maybe this is at the start of the day. Whichever you prefer, make it happen.

-Start each morning right. Focus on eating a nutrient-rich diet (make it for your kids, too!) and fuel yourself with lemon water or a green juice before drinking that cup of coffee (or more).

There are so many other things that you can do to implement self-care, such as meeting up with friends, getting outside, taking a “sick day” for yourself, and more, but these three tips above are a great spot to start and build from.

When it’s time to rest, you need to actually rest. This means that you need to stop stressing and stop working. Put down your phone for once! However, I know that this can be challenging when you have worries about your business. This is exactly why you need to protect your investment(s). Hire great employees, have insurance, and make sure that you have the top-of-the-line security. Then, protect that security. If you are concerned about security measures, you need to check out Georgia-based company, Criterion Technology, Inc. Their domes protect your security cameras and give you peace of mind. They specialize in injection molded optics and they aim to be the standard by which all others are measured against. “Criterion Technology is the industry leader of the highest quality clear component parts molded from polycarbonate, acrylic, and an exclusive optical grade nylon. Specializing in optical injection molding, Criterion displays supreme material expertise, vast technical knowledge, a robust commitment to R&D, and optimum onsite testing. The Criterion team is a group of savvy, imaginative individuals who work together to create a welcoming environment where innovation flourishes. Criterion backs their products with 100% paid tooling maintenance. A North American partner, Criterion fortifies partnerships with design and development aptitudes, prototyping, low and high volume production, and turnkey assemblies.” They go above and beyond to ensure that their customers are happy, so you know that if you need to have your cameras protected for peace of mind, Criterion is in your corner, ready to help.

To implement the above tip of not worrying about the business when you are “off,” you also need to make sure that things run smoothly for yourself when you are not there. Alternatively, you need to make sure that things run smoothly for yourself when you are at work and not at home. Maybe this means using quality companies like Criterion, or maybe this means hiring more employees. For your home life, maybe you need a cleaner, a babysitter, or a dog sitter. This looks so different for everyone, but one thing is for sure: you cannot do it all on your own or else you will either fail and/or become very stressed and overwhelmed.

One thing that has really helped me and my personal and professional life is creating batched days. A batched week looks something like this:

Monday: get organized for the week, respond to emails, do other admin tasks like bookkeeping, etc.

Tuesday: do anything that includes writing. Create content, create advertisements, make adjustments on your website, etc.

Wednesday: run meetings, have interviews, make sure your team is doing okay.

Thursday: take inventory, make sure packages are lined up to go out, etc.

Friday: rest.

Obviously, each business looks different, but this is just an idea of how you could batch your weeks to speed things up and make things more organized for yourself.

Being a mom is hard and running a business is hard. Doing it together? You are a super mom! You have the power to reduce stress for yourself, so take charge and make it happen.