Listen Below For The Entire Episode On The Systemize Your Life Podcast

Whether you are a new mom, a stay at home mom, a full-time working mom, working part-time, or anywhere in between, these time management tips will help you create a work schedule that allows you to show up just as hard for your family as you do for your business.

You Are More Than Just A Mom

Before I ran ChelsiJo.Co, I was a sign language interpreter. In American Sign Language the sign for “just” and “only” are the exact same thing. When I was an interpreter, we would always introduce ourselves by saying “Oh, I’m just the interpreter.” People would always respond, “No you can’t say that! You are more than the interpreter”.

I think the same thing can apply to motherhood. So often I hear women say, “Oh I’m just a mom”.

You’re not just a mom! In the negative sense and in the literal sense. You’re not just a mom. You are so many other things!

The Obstacles That Impact Us As Moms

I know that as moms, we are home a lot. I understand that there are some people who don’t have the opportunity to really even get outside of their house much. Maybe you have one car or maybe you have no car. You could be dependent upon public transportation. I don’t even know what your situation might be because, to be honest, there are women from all over the world in our community. I can’t even begin to imagine what every single person’s home or situation looks like.

What I do know is that it doesn’t matter. What we as mothers experience is identical. Obviously there are experiences, hardships and privileges that impact us as moms but being responsible for our kids and wanting what is best for them is the one thread that holds us all together.

I have navigated a lot of obstacles on my business journey. I’ve been a single mom and the sole income earner. I’ve navigated looking for sitters for my kids, building a business with a new husband and a newborn. I’ve worked full time while dedicating nights and weekends to my business. All of those circumstances have impacted my ability to make money. When you become a mom, this idea of providing for your family financially becomes really complicated.

3 Essential Tips To Grow A Business As A Busy Mom

Even if you are in the season of being a stay at home mom and you are fully committed to that, there are still so many ways and opportunities for you to grow a business. I’ve done it twice now!

The entire time that I was doing it, I was figuring out how to get the time I needed to run my own business while showing up as the person I wanted to be for my family. These three tips are how I learned to balance motherhood and my role as a business owner. These aren’t tips I have ever talked about before but they are super important for any mom who also wants to run a business.

Tip 1: Pay Attention To Your Kids’ Rhythms

Your children have natural rhythms throughout their day—all kids do. There are times when they’re most active and times when they aren’t. You’ve got meal times, quiet play moments and even nap times. Learning these rhythms is key to finding the balance between being present for them and carving out focused work time.

I actually first learned this from Cara through Taking Cara Babies. Her sleep training program is wonderful and made such a huge difference for me in being able to set predictable work ours. What I really took away from that is that our kids already have rhythms built into them. We have to find ways to work with those rhythms.

How To Structure Your Mom Days To Get Work Done

I’ve realized that if you start your day with intentional time for your kids that will free you up to spend time working on your business later in the day. Pouring into them early in the morning—eating breakfast together, playing, and engaging in some structured routines—sets them up to be more independent later in the day. When their needs are met first, they’re more likely to give you the space and time you need to focus on your business.

Pay attention to the rhythms they already have and then use that knowledge to your advantage. Schedule your work time when they are most likely to play independently, or napping, and plan to be present with them when they need you most.

To figure out your kids’ rhythms, look at:

• Nap, meal and playtime schedule
• School or homeschool schedules
• Look for the times of day when your children are at their best.

We come into conflict when our family needs us at the same time we want have our work hours. You feel pulled in too many directions and can’t do either well. A big part of finding work hours is to know when you need to be taking care of kids and family and when you can be a working mom.

“To find time for your business, look for the times during the day when your kids can be at their best.”

I talk a lot about this in my time blocking method. I teach mom’s to set aside specific time for their personal life and specific work hours so that they aren’t constantly juggling all the things. If you want to start implementing time blocking in your life, download this free worksheet. It will walk you through all the steps you need to take to get started.

Tip #2: Go All In On One Thing

One of the biggest mistakes busy moms make is trying to do it all. Instagram, TikTok, email lists, product launches, client outreach—trying to tackle everything just leads to overwhelm. You simply don’t have the time.

Instead, focus on doing ONE thing exceptionally well. Start with a single platform, service, or product and pour your efforts into mastering it. I learned this from my long-time business coach and friend, Stephanie Gass. She taught me that I need to go all in on podcasting.

For example:

• If you’re a photographer, specialize in one type of photography, like weddings or family portraits.
• If you’re in e-commerce, focus on one product or service.
• If you love creating content, choose one channel, like podcasting or YouTube, and go all in.

Find the support, read the books, get the coaching or just get enough practice to get better at that one thing. This laser focus will help you get really proficient and finish your work in a fraction of the time. As you refine your process, you’ll be able to dedicate your work hours to the actions that will really move your business forward.

Expand Your Business Slowly

Once you’ve mastered that one thing, expanding into something else feels more manageable. For example, now that I have been podcasting for a while it feel incredibly easy for me to create podcast content.

I recently decided to add a YouTube channel to the company because I have the capacity to learn something new and a team to support me. If I had tried to start both podcasting and YouTube at once, I would have failed at both.

Go all in on one thing until you’ve got it down. Then, expand when you feel like you’re ready.

Tip # 3: Automate As Much As You Can  

This is a super meaty, practical tip that you could start implementing today. Automate as much as you possibly can. Automation is your best friend as a busy mom and business owner. By automating repetitive tasks, you can free up precious hours to focus on what truly matters—both in your business and in your home life.

If you are currently writing a to-do list and working off your to-do list, or worse yet, your email, you’re not automating your business. That is putting out fires on a regular basis. It is a very inefficient and super stressful way to run a business. Eventually, you will burn yourself out, especially if you aren’t making money.

I personally have worked really hard not to build my business on that model. Here are three simple ways I’ve been automating my business since the beginning:

Create Templates 

For me, this one started by necessity. I wanted to go all in on podcasting but with a full-time job, I didn’t have time to be constantly creating. So, I made myself a template to copy each week. It is the same process I follow today and it works amazingly well.

I don’t want you to constantly be running yourself ragged because you feel like you have to do all the things all the time. Get some templates in place for the emails that you write, the graphics that you create, or for the email responses that you send, whatever it is. Then, you or a team member can easily create that content.

Automate Daily Tasks

What do you need to do in your business every single day? How long will it take you to do those things?

This trips a lot of people up but it should take you no more than 15-20 minutes each day to shoot off a couple comments back on social media or network for a hot second. Figure out the little daily tasks like those that you need to do every day and then plug them into a certain time. As you do those tasks over and over and over you’re going to get more proficient and reduce the amount of time you actually need to get them done.

Automate Weekly and Monthly Tasks

The most impactful thing that you could do for yourself in your home and your business truly is to automate what you do every single week.

What are the specific weekly things that you do every single week over and over and over again? Do you create content? Send out emails? Do you reach out to leads? What do you do in your business every single week?

Take those tasks and then plan out which of them you will do on what days. This will allow you to show up every week without feeling like you’re having to recreate the wheel.

In all honesty, I use automation in both my home and my business. Every week, family knows what to expect. The meals are the same. The routines are the same. What we do every day, every week, every month, every weekend, it’s all the same thing. But it isn’t boring at all. We have so much fun! That is what I want you to experience.

Depending on what you have going on in your life, these automations might have to ebb and flow. That is OK. I want you to lean into automations so you can focus what you are really trying to do as a mom and business owner and have the consistency you need across the board.

It Is Possible To Grow A Business As A Busy Mom

Being a mom and running a business don’t have to compete. You can succeed at both. I want you to come back to these three tips over and over and over again. They’ll change the game for you.

Pick one thing from this post, something that really stood out to you to start implementing today. Maybe it’s something you’ve been thinking about already or just something that feels right in your gut. Follow that because your mom gut is right. Sometimes you just need a little inspiration or a little kick in the behind to get you going in the right direction. Hopefully I gave you a little bit of both and you can take away some really incredible ideas to grow a business with a busy mom.

If you’re really struggling to balance all the balls you are juggling, download my free time blocking workbook today. It will help you start planning ahead so that you know exactly what to work on when. You’ll be able to run a business and enjoy your mom days at the same time.