I know that many moms these days are making an effort to work from home. Starting a business from home has never been easier with so many online resources available! In talking with many WAHMs (work at home mom) over the last 4 years of my business, I hear one common concern over and over. I feel it myself. “How do you balance family and a business?” To make sure your family gets the most of your time, you focus on them during the day. To make sure you business doesn’t suffer, you work late into the night only to start over the next day more tired than the last. Eventually neither your family nor your business is getting the best of you. YOU are not getting the best of you.
I know in my experiences, I have aged due to the lack of sleep…not a great thing for a woman in her mid-thirties that loves to discuss beauty! I have suffered guilt as to how much time I’m spending working on the computer. I have stressed about how to fit it all in: family, business, health, self-care, friendships…the works. It’s really not very different for the working-out-of-home moms! They, too, struggle with the very same feelings.
As a result of my own questions on “How to”, I have decided to occasionally run a Monday Motivation addressing this very issue. I hope for it to be encouraging to you! Beauty comes from the inside and reflects on the outside. If you are exhausted, stressed and/or guilty it is going to show on your face, your skin and the way you carry your body. You can’t look and feel your best if you are struggling with these issues so let’s figure out a way to find your ‘balance”! (I don’t believe in balance as a constant 50/50. I believe balance is a personal interpretation. These stories will be the individual woman’s interpretation of balance.)
The first story is from my friend Rachel. She is a fitness enthusiast like no one I know. Her passion is fitness. She stays home with her 2 young boys (both under the age of 5), runs an Arbonne business, a fitness blog and still finds time to exercise and compete in a variety of athletic events. Here is her advice:
ENERGIZE YOUR GOALS THROUGH EXERCISE
“Workout” and “Homework” are to me in the same category as a tooth extraction, mandatory and senseless. Finding the joy in exercise is what motivates me to keep going every day. I love to be active. I do not enjoy running on a treadmill or sweating on an elliptical, so I don’t do that! You need to challenge your body each day in order to stay fresh and fit. The best way to find motivation to get physically fit, is to find something you love to do and you will WANT to do it every day!
How do I find the time to get exercise? Exercise is MY TIME.
It’s is my first order of business for the day. I arrange my daily activities so that exercise is the first priority. I find the time to exercise because that time is about me. My goals and needs are met with exercise. I am a happier person when I exercise. It’s like your breath- no exercise- no breath. Exercise is about my mental health first. Every day, I have a date with myself for exercise. I also recently learned how to ride my bike with a trailer, so, my son and I can do our local errands on the bike. He loves it! I love riding my bike, so this is an extra hour of low heart rate endurance training that is simply wonderful. Riding a bike makes me feel FREE and full of life. Many of my ideas for the website come when I’m out “spinning” or running! I move so that I can think.
How do I manage my online business?
Fitness for Mommies website is not a job. It is fun. I enjoy writing, thinking, reading, and talking about all things related to my passion- fitness- so I don’t think of it like a chore. I love meeting new people and sharing their passions regarding fitness, workout apparel, books, their product or service. One of my goals for the site is to help the up and coming passionate people be successful in their business ventures- such as Sheila Moon, My-Alibi, IRUNLIKEAGIRL, Oiselle Running and Coach Al Lyman. In addition, it is my hope that I inspire others to find the joys of exercise and to share that enthusiasm with others. (*side note- Rachel has a contest running for a t-shirt from My-Alibi today. Check it out!)
What obstacles or guilt issues do I feel at this time?
The hardest part of being a full time stay at home mom is the business of being a MOM. Yes, I have guilt issues. Very often the dishes are left undone until 5pm. At this time, I will focus on dinner and dishes and hope my children can play safely in the back yard (without jumping off tall buildings, throwing dirt in the Air Conditioner, Swing baseball bats at each other).
How do you measure success?
Freedom and happiness! I have the freedom right now to pursue my passions –through my daily exercise as well as through my online business. I have the freedom to read nightly to learn more. I have the overall fitness to care for my family. This is success to me!
For more from Rachel, visit FitnessForMommies.net.
If you have a story to share about how YOU keep it together, please email me! I want to hear YOUR stories! You don’t have to be a business owner to participate!
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I found your blog on google and read a few of your other posts. I just added you to my Google News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
Stacey Derbinshire
Wow! I could have written this post! Other than that fact that I don’t have any children…all the rest of Rachel’s story sounds very similar to mine!
Its so true..it’s all about finding the time and enjoying what you do!
Hi Tammy,
Thanks for your blog, and for your ideas and sharing. Your and Rachel’s thoughts really resonate, especially since starting Oiselle, a new women’s running apparel company. It’s funny…I just had someone ask me the “how do you balance it all?” question the other day. She was gathering info for a panel she was going to be on, and I wrote the following…I think it’s definitely along the same lines of what you’ve written…
1. Work from home. It’s messier, but it’s more real.
2. Never be “too busy” to get involved with your kids’ schools and activities. Get in the classroom, go on field trips, coach a team, be a room parent, etc.
3. Stick with the winners. Focus on the healthy people and relationships in your life, and eliminate the bad ones.
4. Pursue your dreams. Doing something you love is actually part of being a healthy parent and spouse.
5. “Me time” is not selfish. Take a break, get a massage, read a fluffy magazine – without guilt.
6. Exercise your body every day. If you do, you’ll be able to give back tenfold.
7. Focus on being happy rather than on being right. Sometimes it’s good to just let things go.
8. Be present. Using a Blackberry while your kids rabble rouse doesn’t count.
9. Be honest, but don’t over do it. I stole this from Greg Crowther’s Dad, who gave it as advice on the eve of Greg’s wedding.
10. Seek serenity. Let go of old resentments, anger, and BS that really doesn’t matter anymore.
Great read, thanks for the Monday Motivation!
Okay, In Style Moms is my new obsession. I found out I’m pregnant YESTERDAY, and you better believe I’m going to stock up on those tank tops!
I’m with you on exercise, and love writing, commenting, and just blogging in general. When your business is your passion, your happiness level jumps 100 fold.
Hi! I’m not a mom, but I have a full time job and 4 other part time jobs, not to mention active participation in a writing club. It’s tough to find time to work out, but you’re totally right – it’s my time! I don’t feel good otherwise. Yay for yoga!!!
“How do you balance family and a business?”
That’s the question of “the hour,” isn’t it? I look forward to reading all of the great tips and ideas from other moms who are searching for balance in their lives.
I love Sally Bergesen’s tips (listed above) – especially the one about being “present.” Too often, I find myself typing or checking emails or making to-do lists or reading a magazine instead of really engaging with my daughter. I need to work on that.
Both Tammy and Rachel have inspired me, first of all, to jump on the bandwagon and start my own blog, which I have really been enjoying. Secondly, Rachel has been especially encouraging me(for years now) to work out, so last week I began. I now own two pairs of running shoes and have in my possession a double jogging stroller!