5 productivity hacks for mompreneurs.
Photo by Sarah Chai
As a mother and a businesswoman, you need to share your time with the little bosses you have at home barging in during your work hours. Your kids often don’t understand, don’t care, or don’t care to understand that mommy is working, so when they are peaceful, it’s extra important to be productive and focused. So how can mompreneurs upkeep their empire at home and at work and stay on top of it all? Here are a few productivity hacks to keep in mind:
Plan ahead
If you decided to start a business as a stay-at-home mom, but you’re not much of a planner, sorry to say that you need to get on it ASAP. Take one hour on Sunday to plan your upcoming work week, including shopping, errands, meals, work obligations, meetings, family events, etc. Also, every day before bed, you can take a few minutes to look at your schedule for the day after and take your time to prepare outfits, pack lunches and check all the backpacks and briefcases. This will make your mornings smooth, productive, and free of chaos, so you can start your day on the right foot and avoid that initial rush of stress hormones.
Use your high-energy time wisely
When are you the most productive during your day? Is it right after the kids go to school or your get to the office? Or maybe it’s after you’ve had your breakfast. Maybe you’re a night owl who likes to work after bedtime. Or if you live somewhere hot like Australia, you might be trying to avoid the hottest parts of the day that boil your brain. Whichever it is, make sure to play your day around this high-energy time. Set up your day so you can tackle the most important task when your energy and creativity are at their highest. The rest of the day can be dedicated to sorting out orders and bills, checking emails, editing, going over your previous work, etc.—tasks that don’t require your full focus.
Rely on tech
Today, thanks to smart technology, you can make your day much easier and prevent many unwanted interruptions and focus-killers. First off, there are great apps for your phone that minimize distractions while you work—download them now. Next, you can invest in practical scheduling software. Many mompreneurs opt for top Australian scheduling software to help them plan their projects and manage their jobs, resources, and staff. With this, you don’t have to worry about hiring staff or double booking, and you can use your precious time working instead of planning and stressing out.
Batch your tasks
What does this mean? Batching is a simple technique that involves grouping similar tasks together and allocating a specific time to complete them. For instance, let’s say you do all your communication by email and get dozens of every day. Instead of rushing to answer after every email, allocate a specific time when you’ll check your inbox, read the mail, organize them and answer before archiving or deleting. This way, you’ll save a lot of time on switching between tasks and shifting your focus all the time.
Hire help
If you have your own business and work from your home office, as soon as you can, hire someone to help you out. It’s quite affordable to get a college student, a retiree, or a stay-at-home mom to either help with your household chores, watch your kids while you run your business, or give you a hand when it comes to your enterprise. For instance, since drop-offs and pick-ups can waste a lot of valuable time for your business, make sure to at least give that part to someone else. This way, you can grow your business and have enough energy and time to spend on your kids doing something special and bonding.
Being a mompreneur is very admirable, especially when you have so many things to do both at the office and at home. Use these productivity tips wisely and you’ll succeed both as a parent and as a boss lady.