I’m coming up to my 10th year in business and as a mother.
People often ask how I “do it all” and how I meld my two roles as mother and business owner, so I want to share with you some things that I’ve learned along the way.
As I wrote this blog post it became very long so I’ve turned it into a mini series. I know how busy you are and I understand that when you have time to read a blog post, it’s usually only a few precious minutes, so I’ve broken the series down to hopefully give you something to think about and implement each week over the next few weeks. So here we go.
Perhaps the most important thing I’ve learned after almost a decade in this gig is more of a realisation:
I don’t have to do it all.
I know, right? Revolutionary! You really don’t have to do it all. It took a long time for me to realise and then even longer to accept that if I wanted to enjoy motherhood, have a peaceful home and run a profitable business, then I wouldn’t be able to do everything myself.
My criteria for deciding what to do and what not to do is very simple:
I outsource anything that I’m not good at or don’t have time for.
For my business, this includes things like bookkeeping, graphic design, warehouse management, web design, proofreading, video editing and search engine optimisation.
In my home, this includes garden maintenance, outside deep cleaning and some indoor stuff as well.
Our family is big on team work and as the children grow older they are able to take on specific chores. This makes household management much more enjoyable and a team effort. Everyone has their daily tasks and we all work together to maintain the home. That’s not to say it’s always immaculate. If you read my post about unexpected visitors, you might remember that my house is often messy, but we have a system that works for us because I don’t “do it all”.
Beyond outsourcing the things that I’m not good at or don’t have time for, I’ve also learned that there are many things I simply don’t have to do, and other things that I can reduce significantly. This applies most specifically to the business and over the years I’ve worked out what is actually necessary and what is simply “busy work”. You can read more about busy work HERE.
By now you’ve probably got little people needing you, so I’ll finish this week’s instalment and leave you with a question:
What can you eliminate, reduce or outsource in your life, business and home this week?
Outsourcing is a great time saver and stress relief! So is realising that Mt Washmore can wait a bit or that a takeout meal every now and then doesn’t make you a bad parent 🙂
Nail on the head Eva, I am ALL about outsourcing! Paying someone else to do something that you’re not good at, don’t like, or simply don’t have time for makes very good economic sense I think! It gives other people jobs and keeps yours running smoothly 🙂
It is so hard to “let go” sometimes when juggling the business/home front… but I’m getting better at it! You are so right, we don’t have to do it all.