We juggle work and family daily to manage our home and work lives. But, as a small business owner, this is even more compounded. We have the drive to start our business but are torn between caring for our young children. It is a real dilemma and may not be resolved in this one post. But we can sure try! Right? Remember, there’s no need to feel guilty about this process; we all go through it. I came out on the other side and learned a lot of different tips to make this process much smoother. So, today, to help you get into the groove of being an entrepreneur, I will discuss my favorite tips.
10 Tips to Juggle Work and Family While Being a Successful Small Business Owner
Table of contents
- Split up your day instead of working from 9 – 5
- Make sure you have a routine schedule when the kids or pets are home with you.
- Pick the right office space to minimize distractions
- Pick conference call hours that correspond to your child’s sleep schedule
- Add 15 minutes between meetings when you travel.
- Pick a few times a day to check email and do admin work.
- Get together at least once a month with like-minded small business owners.
- Get help from others when you need focus time.
- Set up a day during the week to plan for next week.
- Add smaller tasks (15 – 20 minutes) to your schedule.
Split up your day instead of working from 9 – 5
If you work from home for your small business, try splitting up your workday when your kids are at activities. Install a curtain that will divide the room into different spaces if you don’t have a separate room for your office.
Make sure you have a routine schedule when the kids or pets are home with you.
To be successful when juggling work and family, it is important to plan and set up a schedule. Take into account the people and pets involved to make sure they are satisfied and content as well as able to complete all your tasks during the day.
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Pick the right office space to minimize distractions
Make sure your office is where you can isolate yourself when you need to get things done. Visit our other posts about how to make the perfect home office.
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Pick conference call hours that correspond to your child’s sleep schedule
If you need to talk to people on the phone or participate in webinars, set work hours and ensure everyone knows what they are for each day. Add work hours to your signature section in your emails.
Add 15 minutes between meetings when you travel.
If you work outside your office, make sure you factor in travel time. Extra time will elevate stress and give you some time if every meeting runs on time.
Pick a few times a day to check email and do admin work.
I find that checking email in the morning, then again at lunch, and then again before I leave for the day works nicely. You don’t need to check your email every hour.
Get together at least once a month with like-minded small business owners.
Create a moms or parents entrepreneur support group with other small business owners and regularly discuss improving home and work situations. Creating a playgroup with moms where the kids play together, and the moms can talk about their struggles and solutions to their business works wonderfully. Getting feedback and advice does help.
Get help from others when you need focus time.
Ask friends and family to watch your kids when you attend important meetings or activities. I found that hiring a babysitter for a few hours a week allowed me the extra time to complete the list of incomplete focus tasks. For $20/week, I was able to assign 2 hours of time just for my business. It was a Godsend.
Set up a day during the week to plan for next week.
Sunday was always a good day to do this. Using a daily planner allowed enough space to fill in what needed to be done for my family and my business. You can make a line down the page and use one column for work and one for home tasks. Being proactive with your home and work schedule will allow you to see the big picture and help you find the blocks open to adding activities.
Add smaller tasks (15 – 20 minutes) to your schedule.
Another juggling work and family tip is to make smaller tasks. If you use an electronic calendar and can create recurring appointments, Make these recurring appointments these smaller tasks like taking a shower, eating lunch, etc. Don’t forget to add an alarm, too! As parents, we tend to forget to care for ourselves, so doing this will remind us what needs a priority.
Whatever you do to improve juggling work and family, choose only to change one thing in your day at a time. See if it works. If it gives you more free time to spend with your family, great! Then, try another tip and see if that works. Be sure to allow enough time to see if it will help your business run more smoothly. Not every tip from this post will work for your situation, so be flexible and nonjudgmental about yourself, and you will be able to make the process of owning your own business successful. The benefits of spending time and organizing your day will allow you time to detach at the end of each day. Visit these additional posts to help you with this topic.
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And, How to Balance a Growing Business When Your Family Is Growing Too
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Now it’s your turn. What tips do you have to manage your work and family lives? Please join in the conversation by writing a comment below. I would love to hear from you.
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Great advice! It almost feels embarrassing to add recurring mundane tasks to the schedule, but it works! After a while, you don’t need the reminder, but having it on your list ensures that you don’t forget until it becomes ingrained as a habit.
It will definitely be interesting when my husband and I start a little family, because he and I are just so used to focusing on the tasks WE HAVE TO DO and then we focus on going on adventures just for us. But when a lil’ babe is involved… We are going to really have to STOP what we are doing and think about things to do with that little one too! Totally life changing!
I agree. There are a lot of things we did before our kids were around that we just let go of post-baby. Good luck in the process. And, enjoy it, it doesn’t last long. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.