The problem with most productivity advice is it assumes you have infinite time as a grown-up individual (free to focus and stay on task and throw overtime at your problems)….
Or don’t have any kids hanging off you! (And all of us moms of littles say haha.)
How about reality:
- I’ll be making 3 sets of snacks today
- I’ve got “park outing” on my calendar every day (so the toddlers don’t go crazy inside)
- I’ll be answering DMs while keeping an eye on the living room toy pickup
- Those outfit ideas for reels are still TBD (I’m supposed to be simultaneously approachable yet professional, but how does that work in a mom bun?)
- And I’ve got to be “Pinterest playmate mommy” at the same time as “deep work business owner thought leader” (you wanna try juggling both?!)
Listen – I can’t tell you HOW many times I’ve run into the “just do podcast interviews or record your reels or hop on video while your kids are at preschool” advice…
Which is totally spot on, and works amazingly well – IF you have that out-of-the-house care opportunity for your kids!
But if you don’t – either your babies are too small, and you’re like me and you’re homeschooling – well, there’s no such thing as “working without the kids around.”
(There’s only semi-quiet and loud and REALLY loud.)
Which means you have to have your day’s setup – plus a business model that accommodates this – to even be ABLE to do whatever podcast interviews or client meetings or audio recordings you have….
….Because you’re dealing with a “kids around 24/7” situation.
Oh, and you’ve got to show up professionally while you’re at it.
(Like no hot wheels all over the floor in the background – that’s max Zoom blur time!)
But the reality is, we need a different way to do “home with the family” work – one that takes BOTH your ambitious CEO and your present mom self into account.
And does it withOUT the mom guilt.
Because you’ve already made your peace with working fewer than 40 hours a week and taking that “can’t scale as fast” tradeoff (compared to the twenty-somethings out there starting their social media management businesses)….
But what you STILL need is the rock solid, settled peace that lets you say “nope – next!” every time you run across another one of those “common sense” (but not practical for moms) bits of advice.
And not entertain that “should I somehow be doing better” efficiency guilt even for a moment.
Because you’re a mom, and you chose this, and you’re doing a pretty good job balancing both the mom and the business owner hats. (Whereas those Google gurus are just speaking to the “in office all day” workforce crowd.)
So don’t you dare feel guilty, not even for a single second, that you aren’t choosing to do some fancy matcha-meditation-workout-first-thing morning ritual in THIS season of your work-from-home life.
If you want it – and that’s a big if – you’ll make it happen someday.
When the kids are a little bit older.
When the tradeoffs are worth it.
When more sleep isn’t your top priority.
The matcha mornings can wait till then – because your “right now” schedule needs are my top priority.
Not what some “I published a book” pundit says.
Which piece of the “should do this to be a ‘proper’ entrepreneur” advice are you ditching today?
