I am a Mother of two and active Aunt to six kids ranging in age from 3 years to 24 years. I am a seasoned enthusiastic Mom and Blogger that is highly active in school activities, crafting, and an award-winning volunteer at Second Harvest Food Bank. I love to Cook and Bake and share my gift with Family and Friends. I get asked the same question, almost every day, “How to do it all?”
Here I will try to give some tips on how I juggle ‘it all’.
Although it sounds like a mouthful, I do not write this to brag about myself and how I appear to ‘do it all’.
I write this post in hopes of giving you a few practical ways to help manage your busy life as a business or blogging mom.
Table of Contents
How to Do It All Top 12 Tips
1. Prioritize
I will argue that no one can learn how to do it all.
If you are out there, please contact us, we would love for you to join the writing team here at TOTS!
Some things just aren’t important every day.
Lately vacuuming and grocery shopping are not always my top priority.
Although grocery shopping is essential, it may not be essential this hour, or even today.
Can cleaning the bathroom wait one more day?
What about replying to an email on Saturday. Is that essential?
Look at your life.
Identify your priorities and be stubborn and stick to them.
2. Make lists and update daily
This goes hand in hand with prioritizing.
I am constantly distracted by people and events that try to change my priorities.
Without lists, I would fail at addressing priorities.
Organize them by urgency and move things around as you need to.
Don’t forget to tick things off as you finish them.
Nothing causes a bigger sense of accomplishment and gets you learning how to do it all.
3. Surround yourself with amazing people
My family and husband are amazingly supportive.
I could not run my life without them.
I know I am fortunate, not everyone has this resource.
Do your best to find friends that can provide emotional support and relax you (as opposed to stress you out).
Work on relationships that give and take, not just suck the life out of you.
Also find smart people and learn from them.
And some days you just need to get out and have fun.
via GIPHY
These women not only provide encouragement, but give advice and feedback.
If you can’t find one to join, create a group.
That’s what I did. (I recommend keeping it small).
4. Get a smart phone (yes there are still some of you using flip phones)
I try not to spend all my time glued to my phone.
But, replying to a quick email while waiting for your child to get out of school, or making a Facebook post while in the grocery store line is a great use of (otherwise) wasted time.
5. Utilize apps
This post is currently being written on the WordPress app as I wait for the oil to be changed in my car.
These minutes are priceless to me and being able to utilize it is essential!
This particular app is amazing and allows me to add images, hyperlink and publish posts from my iPhone.
There are also some other great apps for the small business owner. (I see another post idea).
6. Ask for help
Not very many people will offer to help, but many are willing to.
We have a good friend who is retired, but is thrilled to come by and simply take the kids for a walk to give me a break.
Sometimes all you gotta do is ask!
7. Hire help
Hiring people isn’t fiscally possible for many small business moms, but if it is possible, do it.
Next? Start thinking about where your time is best spent.
Learn to trust someone to pack orders.
Do you believe there is a science to social media; hire someone to help.
If you are a blogger, look for a blogger willing to guest post (many do this for free).
8. Read the love language books
Several months ago I was struggling with spending enough time with each of my children and my husband.
A great special needs parenting course taught me that it was quality, not quantity.
By knowing what your family members’ love language is, you can provide them the love they need in the way they will respond most and in the most efficient way.
9. Don’t let yourself get sucked in!
Facebook kills me, specifically certain FB groups I am part of.
Just popping on for a few minutes can easily kill all the ‘child free’ time you have.
When you are working, work (close the tabs as I learned from this post).
But along with that, when you are relaxing, relax.
10. Make friends with Google
In the past I have spent hours trying to fiddle with our iPad charger.
When I finally logged in and did a google search for ‘why wont my iPad charge?’
I quickly received my answer. (switching the wall plug did not provide enough watts to charge it).
Google EVERYTHING.
Measurements, IT questions, business questions, government and tax details and Childcare reviews.
Warning: if the response seems questionable, check a few sites to verify your answer.
The Internet can cause stress and I do not recommend ‘googling’ medical questions.
This will likely cause undue stress and misinformation.
11. Say ‘YES’ more
You know how when you first have a baby; people offer to bring dinner over?
Don’t turn it down!
If someone offers to bring my son home from school, my inclination is to say ‘no’.
Being an independent person, this has taken practice, but has proven to be vital during this busy time in my life.
That’s right; getting help is one step closer to learning how to do it all.
12. Learn to say ‘No’
This is probably the hardest one of these 12 tips.
I would love to be on the PTA, drive for every field trip, mentor others at work or take one more specialty course.
But at this point in my life, I have to accept that I just can’t.
Turning down an opportunity may disappoint yourself or others temporarily, but is far better than the disappointment of not being able to meet your expectations.
Bottom line, a lot of the time I am ‘faking it like a duck’ and I don’t think there is too much harm in that!
I would love to hear some tips on how to juggle business and life.
Please tell us how you keep up with your busy life.
How have you approaching being the Mom that gets asked how to do it all?
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Fabulous article; thank you so much! I want to paint these tips on my wall 🙂
I have a complete love hate relationship with my smart phone. It is so handy and definitely keeps me on top of things, but now I don’t know how to function without it!
I love these tips! My lists are all kept in Evernote and I’m also a Google-a-holic. I’m also very big on “if you don’t ask you won’t recieve.” Don’t be afraid to ask someone for a favour, the worst they can do is say “no.” You’re no worse off than you were before.
One thing that I discovered about myself is that I do much better if I just take some time each day (doesn’t usually matter what time but I try to do it before noon) to sit with a coffee and read. It is often interrupted multiple times (and often done with a nursing toddler) but it still helps to sit and read my daily dose (for me it is my Bible reading plan). I need that time to reconnect and recenter myself. When I get that time to refocus (often just 15 minutes) I feel refreshed and ready to tackle the next part of my day.
I have a pretty good routine that I follow that allows me to do everything I want. I get up and work on my websites. Then I spend a few hours with my daughter when she gets up. Then I go to work. Then I come home and spend more time with my daughter. Weekends are family time.
I think your very first point is the most important – no one on Earth really “does it all.” That phrase should be stricken from the record! It’s neither possible nor beneficial to give 100% to every single area of your life.