13 Smart Tips for Balancing Business and a Baby

When you’re the head woman in charge of running a business and running a household, it can feel like a strain to try and keep…

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13 Smart Tips for Balancing Business and a Baby jasminethewriter blog

When you’re the head woman in charge of running a business and running a household, it can feel like a strain to try and keep everything afloat. Life balancing business and a baby is demanding, especially when they both require your love, time, attention, and nurturing to thrive.

If you’re wondering how you can get a grip and strike a balance between managing your business and a baby, here are 13 smart tips to help make these important areas of your life work more smoothly together.

13 Smart Tips for Balancing Business and a Baby

13 Smart Tips for Balancing Business and a Baby jasminethewriter blog

Make a list.

When you’re balancing business and a baby, you can’t function without lists. Get everything out of your head and onto paper. Make a list of everything. Keep track of what needs to be done for your home, husband, self, business, baby, etc. Not only will this help you make sure you’re crossing all of your T’s and dotting all of your I’s, but it’ll also help you stay organized and on track to using your time wisely and tackling the to-do’s that take the biggest priority.

Establish a morning routine.

Morning routines are for you. When you’re balancing business and a baby, there is very little time remaining to give to yourself. Carve out time in the morning to illuminate yourself before you illuminate the world around you. Before you touch or tend to anyone in your home, spend the first few minutes of your day tending to your spiritual and personal care needs. Even if it’s just for 20 minutes or so, take the extra time in the morning to cater to your needs first thing. 

Establish a night routine.

Give yourself something to look forward to in the evenings after a long day by establishing a custom nighttime routine. Center a routine around nourishing your mind, body, and soul. It can be sitting on the couch eating ice cream and watching Netflix or it can be burning candles and taking a long bubble bath with jazz music playing in the background while sipping a glass of wine. You deserve it!

Get your baby on a schedule.

Children thrive on routines. Since they can’t tell time, they are able to predict what’s expected of them during certain times of the day when they have a loose schedule. For example, in the morning we eat breakfast and get ready for the day.  Afterward, we go on an outing, then lunch and nap, and then daddy’s home and it’s family time, dinner, bath, and our bedtime routine. There is less resistance because our kid knows what to expect. This makes our day go smoother because everyone’s on the same page about what’s expected at certain periods of the day.

Abide by a work schedule.

When your child is on a schedule, it makes having a work schedule more predictable. You’ll know what you need to get done and when you’ll be able to focus on getting it done. I know I have the golden time when my toddler is napping or down for bed to get work done. My husband also has one on one time with our child on his off day, so I know I have that day to focus on getting projects too. Is there a certain time during the week when your partner or the grandparents pick up your child?  Look for (or create) moments like that in your weekly schedule so you can focus on getting uninterrupted work done for your career.

Have a cleaning schedule.

I don’t know if it’s just at our house, but it seems like laundry is one of those chores that is a daily thing. For this reason, when you’re balancing business and a baby, it’s super important to just have a cleaning schedule. I aim to drop a new load in the laundry while I’m cooking breakfast and by lunchtime, switch that load into the dry. I unload the dishwasher in the morning and reload it at night. We have a robot vacuum that you can set to automatically clean the floors at a certain time every day.

And there are other tasks around the house I don’t do daily, but weekly, monthly, or as needed. Having a day where you do all the surfaces, a day where you do all the bathrooms, and a day where you do all the baseboards and floors, etc. helps you cover more ground regularly without it feeling overwhelming.

Learn how to cook crockpot meals.

Crockpot meals and dump-and-go meals are my holy grail for saving you time when it comes to cooking. Cooking can take forever, but not when you use a crockpot! Some of my go-to things to cook are taco soup, Rotel dip, or chili.

Let your baby sleep in his or her own room.

One of the disadvantages of balancing business and a baby is the fact that the bulk of your work has to be done when your baby is sleeping. Your baby needs to sleep in his or her own space in order for this to work. If you’re in the beginning stages of being a parent, start letting your baby sleep in his or her own space early on! You don’t want to get in the habit of them being used to falling asleep on you or with you. At some point, you’ll have to rip the bandaid off. The earlier you can do that, the better it’ll be for everyone’s independence. When they’re sleeping in their own room, that’s a great opportunity for you to get the break you need to work and provide a living for your family.

Ask for help.

Even if it’s just for an hour or two, every minute counts. Ask for help whenever possible. Let your partner take over when it comes to childcare at some point when they’re off work. Get the help you need when you need it. Sometimes as moms, we assume our partners will do xy or z because that’s what we would do if we were in their position, but sometimes we literally just have to ask them to help. It won’t always be on their mind.

Hire a babysitter.

You can start off small, but if you can swing it, hire a babysitter to come in for a couple of hours a day or a few days out of the week. Childcare takes up a huge chunk of your time. When you need to focus on wrapping up a big project or when you need to focus on finishing a certain task uninterrupted, hire a babysitter to help. We have them come to our home while I’m working in our home office.

Focus on revenue-generating activities.

When you’re balancing business and a baby, whatever little time you do have to work, you want to make sure you’re working smart. Focus on taking consistent action steps that will bring you closer to your goal Focus on revenue-generating activities like asking for the sale every day and marketing yourself. Not spending 2 hours designing a flyer. If you need help on what daily revenue-generating activities you could be doing, check out this list here.

Collaborate as much as possible.

Why work harder when you can work smarter? If there are people out there who have built a community of your ideal audience, figure out how you can get in front of them. Take advantage of influencer marketing programs, trade shows, podcasts, news stations, public speaking opportunities, etc. The fastest way from point A to point B is a straight shot. Figure out how you can get in front of your target audience by collaborating as much as possible so you can spend less time finding your audience and more time just getting in front of them and sharing about the products or solutions you offer.

Use templates to save time.

Whenever possible, save time using sites like Canva so you’re not having to waste time learning how to do graphic design. If you’re struggling with what to say in your captions for social media, take advantage of templates and writing prompts to help you with your marketing.

Automate what you can.

So you’re not having to show up every day to promote your stuff, see what you can automate. If you have 2 hours out of the day to work on your business, spend that time batching out your content and then scheduling it out to automatically post on your blog, email, or social media for the week or month.

Balancing business and a baby is tough, but it doesn’t have to be an excuse to not be great. You can balance business and a baby when you master your time management skills. 

Hopefully, this list of tips will empower you with smart ways to balance life with a business and a baby. If you have more ideas of things that work for you, I’d love to hear from you. Share what you have in the comments down below!

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