Survive Summer as a WAHM (work at home mom)
Warning: this post is for the mamas.
However, if you need help really tackling your time...read up!
Summer is here and your amazing babes are home with you. You have it all planned out, you will wake up at 5 A.M. and work before they wake up. By 8 A.M. you will have breakfast on the table for them. Some morning quality time before you start back at 10 am. You planned activities to keep them entertained until lunch time.
Your babes have another plan which deviates fully from your plan. You end up apologizing to your clients for the loud outbursts that keep coming through your end of Skype. If you have more than one child you may have to break a few disagreements up that only the honorable judge Mama has the ability to settle.
And all of this occurred day 1 before lunch.
Welcome to the summer...solopreneur stay at home mama edition.
Summer camp, sitters & nannies make this thing work smoothly. Believe me when I tell you. Even if just for a few hours a day. You quickly learn to maximize how much you can get done in two hours. Honestly, most of our days are transitioning from one thing to the next. So when you alleviate transitions and just get it done...you activate your productivity super power.
First thing first: Life happens. There will be dramaticals (kid induced dramatic situations that really aren’t that serious)! You will be annoyed, they will be annoyed. Hug it out and (or) have a water balloon fight.
For my service provider mamas: first thing you need to do is decide how many client hours you are offering over the summer and what your active office hours.
I have a client, whom we'll call Dani. This is her first summer working full time in her growing business. Dani has two daughters aged 3 years old and 6 years old. Her partner works outside the home and is usually home by 6 pm.
Dani set her office hours to 10am-2pm Tuesday through Thursday. These are the times she meets with clients and is available for clients. Monday's and Thursday's she offers evening hours on a case by case basis. Dani decided based on her current retainer clients, projects, and summer vacations she would take on 4 additional clients for the summer. How many clients are you able to take on?
Plan your schedule with your babes if they are old enough to contribute.
Where do they want to go during the day?
What do they want to learn? (Learning is year round. Make it fun. Have themes.)
Libraries have awesome summer programs for kids of all ages.
Keep an area/drawer full of activities for them to entertain themselves with during your office hours.
Enroll your babes in activities. These activities usually have a set time & you can bring your laptop & work on the go.
Establish lunch and snack times. Hangry (hungry + angry) mini humans are no bueno for business.
You are solopreneur extraordinaire and summer camp leader. Children love structure and order, despite the word "no" being a fave of theirs.
Just like camp there are schedules that are followed. Another schedule, Kimber? I'm already busy.
I know most creatives despise schedules. However, this takes 30 minutes at most, done once, and guess what? You will then have a summer full of good times with your babes & a thriving biz.
Here's a sample of the camp Dani & I devised:
Monday’s are transitional. Getting in the groove from the weekend and getting the crack down on biz. ½ the day is fun and the other ½ is business. Administrative work is fit in around active child activities. Pinterest has summer activities for kids, older kids and teens.
Friday are free days. Which means go outside and enjoy the sunshine.
Tuesday through Thursday:
7am -10am quality time w/ babes (breakfast, cuddles, play & talks, reminder of office hours)
10-12 client time
12-12:30 lunch
12:30-2 client time
2pm on is flexible
Client time is usually free time for the babes to play and have individual enrichment time.
Pick two days out the month (weekends are perfect) to batch content (blog posts, podcasts, videos, social media images).
There will be days after your client hours when you just aren’t able to get your administrative work done. Acknowledge that now.
I
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I
S
O
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Yes, it is okay.
Your business is not going to fall apart, you are just going to have to move things around. The recommended advice is “work when your children are asleep.” Being a realistic mama of three, sometimes when they are sleep, I want to be asleep too. So times when I normally "chill," are converted to work times.
When your children are awake outside of office hours, be present with them. They will always be your best consumers.
Chic Tips to Mastery this summer:
Turn off your Email alerts. Use Inbox Pause to pause your email. You check your email too much. You really do. If you check your email more than thrice (2-3 times) a day, that’s too much. Unless President Obama is emailing you. Pause it, so you won’t even be tempted to check and respond.
Delegate tasks. If you think outsourcing and hiring contractors is expensive, stay up for 24 hours being super mom and solopreneur. Delegate household tasks too (chores & cooking to your huni or older babes).
Get organized. Use Evernote & Asana to manage your biz on the go.
Review your schedule the night before & the morning of.
Stick to the boundaries you set- work hours or work space. This gives you the freedom to concentrate fully on the tasks at hand - work or play.
Get your rest. 7-8 hours non negotiable. You are of no service to your clients or children burned out.
Self-care needs to be scheduled in. Click here for self-care ideas.
Brain dump a minimum of once a week or whenever you start to feel overwhelmed.
Identify time wasters. Write them on post-it notes and place around your computer to remind you NOT to waste time. (Facebook is mine. I use StayFocused to block certain sites & track my time.)
Meet Sunrise Calendar App
I introduce to you, Sunrise. Say hello to a gorgeous calendar app. Sunrise doesn't discriminate, it is here for all platforms. #allplatformsmatter It's truly the calendar of all calendars. Let me show you it's newest feature and how it's going to change how you work and play.
UPDATE: SUNRISE WAS BOUGHT OUT & DISCONTINUED
A few months ago I started using Sunrise. It's a very pretty calendar app created for Google Calendar and iCloud users. Sunrise is for iOS, Android, and you can access it via the computer. Sunrise doesn't discriminate, it is here for all platforms. #allplatformsmatter
Sunrise is the calendar of all calendars. Serious innovation.
Sunrise features over 25,000 interesting calendars. Never miss an episode of Scandal or Game of Thrones.
Oh yeah!
TV networks have calendars to add the show times to your calendar in addition to following your favorite sports, with the scores updated in real time.
Sunrise connects with the following applications:
- Evernote
- Asana
- Trello
- Eventbrite
- TripIt
- Google Tasks
- Producteev
- Basecamp
- GitHub
- Meetup
- Songkick
- Foursquare
Microsoft recently purchased Sunrise App and is already making changes. All for the better. I got an email last week that made me fall in looooooove with Sunrise. The app has an add on: Meet. It's an amazing quick scheduler.
Another scheduler?
Yes, I know, I know, but this rocks and integrates with your already streamlined life. No more emailing (or texting) back and forth to schedule one on one meetings, consults, bestie dates and coffee meet ups.
As quick as you can access your favorite emoji, you can schedule with Meet in Sunrise.
The other party doesn’t have to sign up for anything or even have Sunrise. They click the link and pick a time that works for them and BOOM! they are scheduled. You get notified once they confirm.
Watch the videos below:
How to use Sunrise with Meet on desktop:
How to use Sunrise with Meet on iOs mobile:
Finding ways to save time and schedule things are two important factors in streamlining. Are you ready to automate your business? Think of the extra time automation will give you for leisure lunch dates, shopping for dresses, and early morning runs or naps (I promise I won't tell).
What do you do every day? Assess your schedule
What do you do every day? From the moment you wake up *hums I woke up like this*
To the minute you fall graciously asleep. What are you doing?
About a year ago I became very intentional about my time. I was already intentional about my living but had just connected the dots that I wasted a lot of time doing NOTHING. I was busy being busy.
I did an assessment of my days and times. I've since helped hundreds of women to take the same assessments. On average my day starts at 6 am and ends at 11 pm.
Below is a sample of a typical week for me: I do an overview then enter it into google calendar. Click on the image to see it in action. Save yourself a copy.
Assessment of your time:
What time does your day start?
What is your morning routine? Does it include personal time aside from hygiene and getting ready for the day? Do you eat breakfast? Do you cook it? Is it ready made? Are you drinking water? Tea? Coffee? Juice? Do you have babes you need to get ready? Do you drive them to school? Sitter? Daycare? Do you wait for them to get on bus? Etc.
When do you work best? Don't work 9-whatever end time just because you think everyone else is.
what time do you eat lunch? [SN: you need to eat at least 6 times a day]
On what days do you work in your business and what days do you work on your business?
What are your office hours?
Client hours? Content creation hours? Biz development hours? Networking hours?
Do you cook dinner each night?
Do you go grocery shopping?
Of course you have to block off time for Scandal.
Which days are reserved for dates (kiddie dates, lunch dates, and romantic dates with your honey)?
When do you workout?
- When do you shop offline?
3 Chic tips to system mastery
1. Assess your current schedule. Use this PDF to help you.
2. Create a schedule template here. [save a copy to your google drive]
Transfer to google calendar once completed.
3. Honor & respect your time to ensure that others respect your time also.
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