Mum (and Dad) life vs business life

To all the entrepreneurial addicted Mums and Dads out there...

Sometimes I feel as though I am living two lives, one as a successful businesswomen and one as a Mum and wife. Daily I wake up feeling as though these lives are fighting one another. It's hard.

Now I know I am not alone in this. Hourly I see many Mumpreneurs or Mums in Business who know this struggle is real.  

From the other side, I know as a daughter this struggle is real. My parents owned their own business and Dad married 3 times ( I came from the third marriage) and to be honest my early memories are off Mum and Dad talking business around the table, peppered with his trips abroad. I know this struggle is not a new one.

And it's amazing that we can be Mums (or Dads) and hold down jobs, or build the business of our dreams. However as humans we cannot give 100% to everything all of the time.

So today I wanted to share with you some tips that have made my life as a Mum in Business or Mumpreneur easier:
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1. Family is first. No matter the client or the urgency if I am needed by my family they have to come first. Loosing Dad last year showed me we have one life only. They will be around a lot longer than business or my clients. Please note this does not mean I ignore clients, it just means it may take a little while longer to get the right answer.

2. There is work time and there is family time. I schedule at least 1/2 hours daily for growing my business, and I am often found working at 10pm doing the extra things I need to do..

3. Prioritise. I love lists, I have lists everywhere. These keep me going. I list everything I need to do, and every night highlight the must do's for tomorrow.

4. Top three. I have a secret- I can't time block. My life does not fit into neat 30 minute slots. But what I can do is have a must do list of three things to do daily.

5. Limit time on social media. I am still doing this but when my family are there, there is no facebook, Instagram or Linkedin.

6. Off time. My husband doesn't think I know what off time is, and yes sometimes I lie in bed with a thousand thoughts going through my head. But I make sure I spend time with friends and family every week.
 
7. Remember your why. My Mum said to me a few days ago- there is no point having a succesful business but no family to go home too. And for me this is true. Success to me is helping businesses grow and giving my family the life we want. Therefore I need the family to be there, and sometimes work has to be put to one side. Work out your goals and what success means to you.

8. Embrace the fact you can't do it all. So what if the washing gets left, or the gym is ignored for another week. I would rather spend the time with my family and Robert and then use the other time to grow the business. 

I recently read you want your business to support you, and not you to support your business.  And I think all of us with entrepreneur addiction need a reminder time and time again.

What are your tips for managing the you vs the entrepreneur in you?

Love Carrie xx