So, you got your ideal day all sorted for the mom side of things – but now you started a business.
Or worse, you don’t have any idea *what* you need to be doing (on either side of your life), but you just know that something has to change.
Frazzle mode isn’t going to cut it for you any longer.
Great! Because that means you see the problem, are fully prepared to do something about it, and want to change.
So let’s get going on that business day-in-a-life transformation for you.
Know your daily rhythm
First, let’s cover what you’ve got going on in the morning.
- When do you wake up?
- When are your kids waking up?
- What daily schedules or appointments do you have to meet? (School drop off, therapy times, standing play dates, etc.)
- Do you have daily chores to complete, and if so, how long do they take you (or your kids)?
Then, let’s move on to the afternoon.
- When do you eat lunch?
- How long is cleanup?
- Who has naps when? (Someone might need a nap late morning, too!)
- Do you have an afternoon cutoff because of a school pickup requirement?
We need to know all these things.
And lastly, evening….
- When do you make supper?
- Who does the baths?
- What time do you go to bed at night?
- (Are you getting enough sleep)?
I know this is a lot of stuff, but first we have to get the really nitty gritty basics of your day.
(And if this stuff isn’t second nature to you, no problem! I walk you through everything you need to know on how to do this for your daily routine as a wife and mother in #Momlife Made Easy.)
‘Cause my life changed for the better as soon as I implemented this, and I want you to be able to live this way – the no stress way – too.
Know your energy flow
Second, now that we know your particular parameters, let’s set about discovering your unique energy needs.
- Which times of day do you have a lot of energy?
- Which times of day can you be on video?
- Where’s the Venn diagram overlap between them?
‘Cause you may be a morning person through and through, but the lighting is terrible before the sun’s up and you don’t want to wake anyone up!
Now, about the rest of your day: outline your low energy times – this is when you can barely check email, or plan for the next day, or whatever your least-mental-agility-required biz tasks are.
Aka, know your low points.
And finally, what’s in between? Where are you still ramping up to that high energy period, or in between go-go-go mode and “I have no brain for anything”?
Lay out your day according to these new parameters.
It’s all about managing the energy flow God gave you.
Batch your business tasks accordingly
And lastly, here’s where the rubber hits the road.
Aka, you’re going to match up your business tasks with your newly discovered energetic times of day.
You know what time blocks you have available for your business; you even know which tasks require what kind of energy. So now, just pop them in wherever you see a hole in this week’s schedule.
- Recording video? Oh yeah, got a “high energy with no kids” spot here.
- High energy, but kids around? Then I’m doing homework helping or toilet cleaning or running errands with everyone in tow – because my housework high energy times deserve to be used, too.
- Low energy, no kids? Maybe you’re processing your inbox or emailing your VA what you’d like her to do next. Or just uploading documents for your next client file (not actually working on them). It’s all good!
- What about your mid-energy work block? Can you outline your next podcast episode, pick graphics, or answer q’s from your VA?
See, this is how you construct a business part of the day that you actually enjoy – instead of wasting your high energy time on inbox management, forcing yourself to hop on video when your energy is down in the dumps, or persuading yourself that you have to get every single top priority project moved forward THIS WEEK even though you’re on your cycle and decidedly low energy.
It’s all about managing the energy flow God designed you with for your particular body, your particular business, and balancing that with your family’s needs.
It’s not that hard once you schedule it, but it does take some getting used to – so keep that blank calendar with “high energy time” and “medium energy” or “low energy” in color coded time blocks as long as you need to.
It’s just there to remind you of how you function best.
Where do you need to change things up in your calendar today?
Where have you been pushing forward with high energy tasks, all the time, because the kids are gone and you have a quiet house (but really, you need an energy pick-me-up before you can do anything)?
Where are you not making good use of one of your naturally energetic spots during the day?
Tweak, troubleshoot, and time block a new daily schedule that suits your energy rhythms to a T.
Because when you do that, you’ll be amazed by how quickly your to-do list resentment disappears.
No more forcing yourself to record something and hating that you did a bad job.
No more nagging sense of “didn’t use my time wisely this morning.”
None of that.
You did your job, got realistic about how much you could give, and allowed yourself to be low energy when you needed to.
You’ve got this.
What are you going to change about your daily work schedule today?
