How to Be a Productive Mom Entrepreneur Even in the Summer

Juggling the demands of motherhood and running your own business isn’t easy at any time. Summers can be particularly challenging for most mompreneurs, though. The kids are home all day without as many outside distractions to keep them occupied.

Just because the kids are home doesn’t mean your work slows down. The routines you nailed in the fall and winter may fall by the wayside in the warmer months. Not to mention, you don’t want to miss out on those precious childhood memories that fly by so quickly.

How Do You Balance Motherhood and Entrepreneurship?

According to the latest Annual Business Survey by the U.S. Census Bureau, around 20.9% of all businesses are women-owned. Are all of those women also full-time mothers? Of course not. However, there is still a significant number who are and must juggle personal demands with business ones.

Since so many of these brands take off and do excellent, there must be some secrets to juggling kids in the summer and still keeping your business afloat. Here are some of our favorites.

1. Keep Lists

When you’re juggling family responsibilities and work, it’s easy to let things fall through the cracks. Make sure you don’t forget even minor details by keeping lists. Write down every little thing you have to do from planning a family menu to running kids to play dates to touching base with your clients.

There are many different apps you can use or just go to old fashioned paper lists and check things off as you complete them. The more you get used to using a list, the more it will become second nature. No more forgetting about an important meeting or when to pick your kid up from practice.

2. Stay Cool

You may feel slightly frazzled as you juggle everything, particularly if your children are younger. Stay cool with a desk fan or two that doesn’t distract from your work. Getting overheated can impact your productivity so choose a quiet fan that cools without distracting from tasks at hand.

Kids running in and out of the house can also put a strain on your air conditioning and increase the temperature in your house. A fan may be all you need to stay focused.

You can also dip your feet in the pool while you do some work or make phone calls. The kids will be happy to be outside and you’ll be present while still getting other things done. Just don’t get too distracted as water safety should always be your first priority.

3. Create Tasks for Kids

Give your kids their own things to do while you work on a project. You can set them up with an art project, get some summer learning workbooks to help them get ahead of the class or have them read a book and write a short report.

Most libraries around the country have various summer reading programs. The more your child reads, the better the prizes they earn so get them set up with the program and get started on earning fun stuff.

You could even let them help you with the business. Give younger kids simple tasks such as stuffing envelopes and older kids more intense work such as learning design or marketing skills. You can even pay them a little for their help and take advantage of some tax benefits.

4. Enlist Help

You may need to hire a nanny or babysitter to help you out in the summer months. Don’t be afraid to send your kids to camp the busiest week of summer or to child care a few hours a day so you can get work completed.

One of the problems with kids being home is that they will almost always find a way to interrupt your work flow. One of the benefits is more time with them. You have to learn to balance the two so you can get work done while still spending valuable time with those you love more than anything else in the world.

5. Tap Into Apps

By the year 2025, experts estimate 152,200 devices will connect to the internet of things every minute of every day. Apps exist to make our workflows easier and automate repetitive tasks. Look at the things you do over and over again.

For example, if you type a similar response to each new lead, why not automate the response a bit? Use apps to keep up with your to-dos, to time yourself and enhance productivity and so on. Look for ones that free up time and give you more power over your day.

6. Find Pockets of Time

When it comes to juggling children and building a business, you have to learn to work in pockets of time. Feed the kids lunch and while they’re eating, you can respond to several emails. Put them in front of a movie for 30 minutes and finish up a project. You can be in the same room, limit their screen time and still utilize short pockets of time to get things done.

You could also set aside a quiet time each day where the younger ones nap and the older ones read quietly. Use every minute of their quiet time to be productive and build your brand.

Some moms work when the sun goes down and the kids go to bed. You might flip your work schedule so you do the majority of your work at night and cut out any television viewing for yourself during the summer months. If the kids go to bed at eight or nine at night, then you probably have two or three hours you can work before you need to hit the pillow yourself.

This Too Shall Pass

Summer can seem overwhelming to busy moms. It is a very short window of time, though. The kids will be back in school before you know it and the days will take on a different type of schedule. One day, they’ll be off working jobs and living adult lives and you’ll wonder where the time went.

Do your best to enjoy the added moments with the little ones you’re in charge of while still keeping your business on the right path.

Eleanor Hecks is the founder and managing editor of Designerly Magazine. She’s also a web design consultant with a focus on customer experience and user interface. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dogs, Bear and Lucy. Connect with her about marketing, design and/or tea on LinkedIn!