For parents, having a child is one of the greatest joys life has to offer. But it’s not without its challenges either, especially for entrepreneurs.
Balancing raising a baby and running a business is no easy feat, especially when the average U.S. family spends more than $8,300 per child on child care each year.
So, with only a finite number of hours in a day, what can you do to make sure you’re giving both parenthood and entrepreneurship the attention they deserve?
We’ve got a few suggestions.
Outsource Work
First and foremost, the easiest way to free up more time in your day is to outsource some of your non-essential or non-core tasks.
And luckily, the internet makes that extremely easy to do.
Remote work means you can hire skilled freelancers at a fraction of the price of a full-time employee.
Not sure where to start? We’ve got nine tips for building a strong team of freelancers as well as four tools to help you find them.
Schedule Quality Time Like a Meeting
As a parent, it’s important to have work time and parenting time. When you’re at work, you need to work. But when you’re the parent, you need to be the parent—and you need to be fully present in that moment.
So, it’s important to be intentional about the time you spend with them and to plan accordingly.
Think of it this way: as much as you schedule meetings with important clients, schedule quality time with your kids as well.
Whether it’s taking them to the park, drawing with them, having dinner together, or reading them a book, consider blocking this time off in your calendar.
And during that time, put away your phone and close down your computer to ensure you’re present in the moment.
Managing your time will help you make the most out of every workday, and that includes achieving what needs to be done for your business and then giving your child the attention they deserve.
To learn more about how to do this like a pro, check out these seven techniques and tools to help you master time management.
Try Getting Up Extra Early
As they say, the early bird gets the worm.
And this is for good reason: getting up early—earlier than everyone else in your house—gives you uninterrupted time to get work done before the world is even awake.
It’s not an easy task but, if you can get into a routine of waking up at 5:30 a.m., you can get in a few unimpeded hours of valuable work time before the kids wake up.
Setting yourself ahead a few hours will make the rest of the day a lot less stressful.
Escape the Home Office Sometimes
If you’re an entrepreneur and you work from home full-time, it can be extremely challenging to fully switch into work mode.
After all, there are always distractions at home, whether it’s looking after the kids, thinking about chores that need to get done, or any other number of things.
Finding a way to escape your home office—even occasionally—can help you toggle that switch between parenthood and businessperson.
And the good news is you have a ton of options for how to do this. You could get a coworking membership, for instance, that lets you drop in at a flexible workspace and find any open desk when it suits your schedule. You can even get a dedicated desk or a private office of your own if you want something more permanent. And, if you want privacy but don’t want to pay for it when you’re not using it, you can explore a part-time private office membership.
Build a Support System
As the proverb goes, it takes a village to raise a child. And that’s especially true for entrepreneur parents.
But sometimes, it’s hard to tap into your network of family and friends for support.
The same way you need a support system in place to achieve business goals, you can apply that thinking to parenthood.
Sometimes you just can’t do it all alone. And in those times, you shouldn’t feel worried about asking for help.
Encourage Participation
Here’s an interesting concept: in theory, you could help teach your kids work ethic and motivation, all while spending time with them as well.
Depending on your kids’ age, you can consider thoughtfully including them in your business in some capacity.
This could be things like:
- Proactively explaining what you’re doing during the workday
- “Hiring them” to help you do things like put address labels and stickers on packages and materials
- Hosting “meetings” with them to catch up on what’s new at school and tell them what’s happening at work
- Doing “inventory,” such as counting how many pens and pencils you have and writing it down
- Organizing and filing, tidying up, and putting things away
Whatever you do, this should be fully focused on fun, but it’s a great way to make them feel like they’re part of your working world.
Make Time for Self-Care
This isn’t related to work or parenthood, directly, but it’s vital to make time for self-care to help reduce the stress of taking on so many responsibilities.
This could be as small as taking ten minutes to meditate or an hour to exercise each day, or treating yourself to a massage or a round of golf once per quarter.
Whatever it is, make sure to do something for yourself from time to time.
Know Your Boundaries
Entrepreneurs are career-driven and ambitious by nature, but there’s one thing you should always keep in mind: knowing your boundaries and abiding by them.
This means understanding the most important moments in life, whatever those may be for you, and prioritizing them above all else.
Ultimately, you’ll always have another day to work but you’ll never get another chance to enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime moment with your family.
As many of the members of The Post know first-hand, entrepreneurship and parenthood have a lot in common: they both require dedication, hard work, and passion. But, most importantly, they can both be incredibly rewarding. The key is finding a way to be the best you can be at both.
To learn more about how flexible office space can help you juggle parenthood and entrepreneurship, get in touch with us today. Our team is available to speak with you.