Work life balance is one of the biggest struggles for working moms. Being able to show up to all of my duties at home and grow an idea to a full-blown business has taken a lot more than skill, luck and magical fairy dust. It’s taken an incredible amount of consistency. 

But how do you even step into that conversation with your spouse to say, “I want to start a business,” when you can’t even keep up with the laundry?! How do you get to the place where you can be consistent for two weeks, let alone a year or two or three?

These questions are why I started my business, so you know that you don’t have to choose between home and business. You can succeed in both areas, home and business!

Listen below for the entire episode on The Systemize Your Life Podcast

Step #1: Get clear on what is important at home.

The first thing I did was get super clear on what was important at home. What did we really, really need to have happen in order to thrive as a family? Write it down and come back to this over and over again on a regular basis to gain that clarity. What is working?  What isn’t working?  Journal on these topics every night for a few days. You’ll start to pull out consistent themes of how your daily routines are either helping or hurting the goal.

There are so many podcast episodes that may help you clarify your answers here, so go binge in the podcast vault. You can search within the document by typing Control + F or Command + F, depending on your computer. Then type “home” into the search bar that opens up.

Step #2: Get clear on what is important for you, individually.

Next, I got really clear on what I needed to be able to show up at maximum capacity physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. What did I truly need, for me? That’s why I created the fundamental needs workbook to help you sort through what you truly need.  For example, my physical needs started out as some at home workouts and prioritizing nutrition. Now my fundamental needs for my physical health look different than they used to. That’s what it’s about though, having the understanding of your fundamental needs and being able to make small changes to prioritize them as they change.  Prioritizing my physical health (just one of my fundamental needs), helps me to show up better for all other areas.

So, you may be thinking “What do my fundamental needs have to do with being able to keep my house clean?” The answer is this, you’re not going to achieve work life balance if you are mentally bogged down, distracted, and frustrated. Your emotional state will flow into your external environment, just as your external environment can impact your emotional state. We want to stop the vicious cycle and get clear on what you need to be able to perform at your highest capacity.

Step #3: Get clear on your weekly routine.

The next step you want to take is pinpoint what your weekly plan needs to be.  What are the tasks you’re doing every single week? The ones that are on repeat? For me, I figured out how to manage my time and all the tasks that I had to do on a weekly basis. Then I stuck all of those things inside one simple rock-solid home management system. I also committed to using it every single day. No matter what, I stuck with it. Those few times when I couldn’t show up to it, it proved why I needed to go back and show up to that home management system. I put everything that I needed to do with my time into a simple system.  

The beauty that comes when everything is one place is that you simply show up to that time and you don’t have to think about what needs to be done. Everything is laid out for you in your system.  You show up and the hard work of wondering when or what or who is already done.  The goal is to get your house to essentially run on autopilot. We are finding the patterns and the predictability that comes with running a home. This step alone will give you more mental bandwidth and help you carve out pockets of 2,4,6 hours of time.

Step #4: Consistency on repeat.

Unfortunately, there is nothing magical about showing up to this type of system week after week.  It isn’t pretty or romantic or even super inspiring.  Honestly, it’s quite boring, but the benefits of work life balance have been so worth it!

“The return on investment of committing to this process is worth so much greater than anything I’ve experienced, which is why I want the same for you.”

But here’s the kicker, when you start showing up consistently it can be discouraging. Picture this, you clean your house and the next day it looks like a bomb went off, maybe not even the next day maybe only a few hours later. Then every good intention goes out the window and you feel like a failure and end up burnout. This process of giving it your all and not seeing the benefits is so discouraging. It may even make you not want to show up again for that task and think work life balance is impossible.  My home management system broke this defeating cycle for me. It allowed me to know exactly what to do when I showed up.

Step #5: Make your time fruitful.

Time is precious these days. It takes so much effort to even get an hour without the toddler pulling at your pant leg. So, when you sit down to actually work, you want it to be fruitful. It is actually crucial for it to be fruitful!

If you’re going to keep showing up for it, it HAS to be worth it. And this is where my best friend Stefanie Gass came into the picture. She helped me gain the clarity and confidence to know what to create and how to help people in the little time I had.

If you don’t know what your thing is or how to put it together, go work with her in Clarify Your Calling! If you already know what your thing is but need more people to find your business take Podcast Pro University. Her courses are the reason why I’m sitting here able to pour into you and help thousands of other women systemize their lives. I’m able to do this in a fraction of a work block, while keeping my house and family tended to. She literally taught me what I needed to show up for without the hustle of social media.

Bottom Line: #1 priority is your home management system.

In order for your passion project to take off, you have to prioritize your home management system. That is the one thing that will make or break your ability to have a work time block. When that work block arrives have your tasks listed out, so you can simply sit down with laser focus and get them finished. If you’re ready to get going with your home management system, join us in the Systemize Your Life Academy. Go create that time and space for what really matters in your home and your business. I’m telling you, that dream of yours is worth it!

Frequently Asked Questions

Work life balance sounds great, but I need help. How can I get accountability?

That is my favorite thing in the whole wide world to give my community! I was a cheerleader all of my life and I never had a clue that it would manifest itself this way. My favorite resources for accountability here are the Systemize Your Life Facebook group and the Time Management Bootcamp Facebook group. I’ve got 5 people focused on investing in the women in this bootcamp and we are all in to bring you success!