I am writing this blog as my new born baby is asleep on my lap on his 12 week birthday. As a mum to 2 boys, a wife and a business women I would safely say that I have experience tough times but also know that things get easier.
As many of you know I began TMG whilst full employed and have seen most of TMG's growth with a young son and now I have launched Bannan and Sulley Developments with my second son. Although I would not change anything I can say that having to balance all my plates at once is tough, but it gets easier.
The reason for this blog is to give assurance to anyone going through change or finding things tough that you can get through these tough times and make things easier with some readjustments. So please give these points below some consideration.
Seek an alternative way which might be better
When you have your head down in your business and are juggling daily tasks you can miss the chance to lift your head up. If you are working alone in your business or find yourself working from home now then you may lack the input from others on your processes, so you may need to seek others to help reflect on yourself.
This might be speaking to other new mums on how they balance a newborn baby, a toddler and work so you can get a new prospective. The way you are doing things might not be best way to work and someone else might have a solution that is worth exploring.
Ask those who are qualified
Asking those around you who are experts in their field can give you confidence that their opinion is objective rather than subjective. It has been a great help to have our househelp/nanny onboard who can assists in the care for my two sons and the house, whist allowing me to be the business women that I want to be. She has the experience to bring up two young children so is a huge help to bounce ideas off involving the children.
I also have a very supportive business partner and peers who can advise on deals, questions on building projects, giving quotes and most importantly alleviating some tasks from me. Being able to ask qualified people for this advice helps me grow as a person but also speeds up getting the answers I need. They can give me the answers quickly as they have the knowledge and expertise to give me answers that would take me time to research and find. They are also able to take over tasks such as being the PM on site, liaising with architects and structural engineers and allowing me to concentrate on other tasks. The limited amount of time I have each day I can use productively by utilising a great time around me.
Commit and stay consistent
With a busy schedule in business and life it is important to be organised so you can stay committed and consistent. I have committed to posting on social media 3 days a week as I know I can commit to this on a regular basis - it is best to under commit and over deliver. You can use whatever method you need to make sure that you stay on point. I use a diary for adhoc tasks, my iPhone calendar for regular occurring tasks and a A4 note pad that shows my tasks for the month. I am a visual list person so this works for me.
If you do slip off track do not let it put derail you completely as you have the foundations set so just get back into your routine.
Be flexible and willing to learn
The final point I would like you to take away if to be flexible and willing to learn. I have to learn and adjust to my newborns changing routines and demands which has impacts on the whole family and my working schedule. I had to learn and adjust to the preferred communication route of my business partner who is a whats app user over email and loves a spreadsheet rather than a descriptive email.
It does not matter what you want to achieve, where you want to go and what could lie ahead as long as you understand that you have to be malleable, take advice from those who have experience or who you admire and stay true to your objectives. There are always challenges and hurdles but these can be overcome and will get easier.
