Time… there’s a topic which effects every mother whether she’s a working mother, a stay at home mum or is a work at home mum like you and me. When working mothers spend an average of just 81 minutes per day with their children and stay at home mums and average of 2hrs 35 of focused attention; how can us work at home mums manage our time well enough to run our home AND our business effectively? After all it’s all down to us.

There’s so much pressure that comes with running a business and care for your family at the same time. There is always something to do. Always someone or something that needs your attention. Always somewhere you need to be. Are you doing enough? Are you doing the ‘right thing’? Are you good enough?

The biggest drain on your time is overwelm

As WAHM’s we don’t have a boss to make the big decisions, take responsibility and delegate. At least not externally. Remember you are the boss and you need to step it up a notch. Take charge and learn whatever you need to in order to run your business.

Here’s a snippet from an article written by Ali Brown. She is ranked on the Inc. 500 list of fastest growing companies in the nation (US) and Business News Daily calls her ‘The Entrepreneurial Guru for women’ I stongly advise you go check her out as she has been one of the key players in my complete overhaul of mindset.

When I meet most women business owners I work with, they are spending most of their money and time trying to become better at what they do instead of learning how to grow a business. I see you specialize in interior design, so instead of trying to grow in that area, I’d rather see you put resources toward learning more about the latest marketing and business growth practices. If you can’t afford a direct mentor or coach, start with home-study courses and programs (like those I have in my online Success Store). The #1 reason those businesses fail out there, according to data shared by the SBA, is the owners just don’t have the knowledge it takes.Continue reading here

Time management work at home mum

Time management is a critical skill for all business owners to have because time can get away from you very easily. When you are working from home days can melt into one and that fine line between work time and free time can get blurred. We are alll trying to do the best that we can and sometimes that can be our downfall.What can you do to change this?

1. Create a plan

Ever heard that saying that ‘people don’t plan to fail they just fail to plan’? It’s true! Now you have set yourself dedicated time to work on your business step 2 is creating a plan so you use that time effecftively. My top tip for this is to seperate your top tasks that you either must do or that will make a big impact and add them to your diary/schedule. Anything that you want to do but doesn’t really give much back then stack it on a sheet labled unimportant tasks. This definition is a key part in creating a plan that makes you get done the things that really need doing if you get time then check them off the list but remember they aren’t important. If they aren’t done the world isn’t going to crumble. Concentrate on the important things in life and business. Don’t sweat the small stuff.

If you weren’t available to attend the free webinar I held all about achieving your goals then you won’t have had the benefit of the presentations and worksheets that I gave away to all attendees. Now, I know I shouldn’t do this after all hours of preperation has gone into creating this BUT I want this to be my gift to you. All you need to do is put your name and e-mail in the form below. You will recieve the worksheets in a zip file when you click the link in the confirmation e-mail.

You need to create a time management plan that will work for your business remembering that one size doesn’t fit all and you work best when you work with your natural routine in mind. For this you need to have your goals in place and in focus so make sure you fill in that form above, download the sheets and take action today.

 

2. Take Action!

Yeah, just incase you didn’t know I am a HUGE fan of taking action and not just any kind of action but focused action. Whether it’s a step, a crawl or a LEAP.If it’s focused on where you want to ake yourself, then you are getting closer and closer all the time.

One of the tips from Michelle at The Social Strategy was to check out the Pomodoro technique. Using an online stopwatch to keep thing moving and on task. For me it works really well. Maybe it will be a good fit for you to http://www.pomodorotechnique.com/

 

3. Take a Break

With all the best intentions overwelm can strike. Whilst the image of ‘supermom’ is easy to project. The reality is it just doesn’t happen like that The big secret is we are all the same. We see the best in others yet are so hard on ourselves. It’s time to stop the negative thoughts, perfect is over-rated successful is a point of view and sanity is priceless.

It might seem crazy when there is so much to do, for me to tell you to do nothing. Sometimes, expecially for us work at home mums nothing is the best thing we can do. Let’s face it we work a 96hr work week as mum, no sick days, no holidays and THEN we run a business, spend time with partners, see family….. How much time are you investing in yourself? Take a break even if it’s something as small as switching everything off one evening yes that includes the smartphone.

There you go! The 3 steps to creating more time are:

  1. Plan your time – set goals
  2. Take action – achieve goals
  3. Take a break – keep sane

 

Take action on this and let me know the results by adding your feedback below.