Boys
It has been 8 weeks – YES 8 weeks my lovelies! Here in Australia, our school Summer holidays are over today. My darling boys, Matthew, aged 9, and James, aged 6, head back to school TODAY. I am so insanely excited about this there simply are not words to describe it. I love my boys and I love being a mum but I am exhausted from entertaining 2 rambunctious boys over the seemingly endless holidays.
But you know this Summer has probably been the best I have had since I became a Mum. Last year, I was contemplating getting an au pair as both my husband and I run our own businesses and it can be hard to give your children attention when your business baby is so demanding.
Fortunately, I put in place some really great practices during the last couple of months that allowed me to enjoy some time with my boys knowing that my business was taken care of. Now if you have been receiving my newsletters for a while, you will know that I am a huge advocate for planning. But honestly, it is a game changer if you want to get back to more important things, like hitting the beach with your family.
I started my business after leaving corporate marketing life. I was fed up with compromising my family for work and thought there must be a better way to manage the juggle. To be honest, since then, I have never really looked back. Now I can’t claim that I only work a few hours a day or that I get the balance right all the time but these Summer holidays made me realise how far I had come. My business has grown immensely and yet, I have been able to spend more time with my boys than I imagined possible. So I want to share with you some of the tools that have made my wonderful Summer break possible.
Treat your business like work
Most of us have family and friends who were enjoying holidays over Christmas. If you ask most of them, taking holidays, even when you are employee involves a degree of preparedness. Working for yourself is no different. Set yourself a deadline and get it done. Honestly, telling yourself that you are not working for a week or two will see your productivity go in to overdrive.
Get ahead!
Now this is not rocket science but honestly, it pays off. By the time my boys broke up for the Summer on the 9th December, I had completed all the social media updates for my clients and my business right up until the 31st January. It did take a working a few extra nights to get it done but boy was it nice and relaxing knowing the bulk of my work was done and dusted. If you missed my previous blog on planning your posts in advance, click here to read it now. https://onlinesocialbutterfly.com.au/time-to-start-planning/
Schedule and automate
Now I know I am always talking about scheduling but seriously folks, if you have not gotten on to this, you are doing yourself and your business a disservice. I could not function or run my business or do anything if I did not utilise scheduling on Facebook. If you would like to learn how to do this, click here to read my blog that takes you through it step-by-step. https://onlinesocialbutterfly.com.au/scheduling-a-post-on-facebook/
Now back to our dreams..
I know that just like me, you started your business because you dreamed of something better. More than likely, you are extremely busy and struggle to manage everything that running a business demands. I would love you to try some of my time-saving tips and reclaim your dream.