July 12, 2023

Summer Scheduling

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Summer is here! Yay!

It’s beautiful outside, there are so many activities that are calling you and your child’s names. There are get togethers, BBQ’s, water sports, hiking, beach days, camping…so much fun! So many memories to make, so many things to enjoy.

It’s great, it’s fine!

We can fit in the fun stuff, along with our normal house and business tasks, right?!

Please tell me I’m not the only one who struggles with this!

We homeschool so having our kids home all day isn’t anything new in the summer for us. But where I struggle is that my kid’s friends are out of school, and they want to do all the fun things at the last minute. My schedule isn’t as flexible as a mom who doesn’t run her own business. Most of my appointments are scheduled on a reoccurring monthly basis, so my weeks are typically planned out weeks before the actual meeting. I hate feeling like I’m letting my kids down when I have to say no to a last-minute invite. But I can’t let my clients down either.

So, what’s a Mompreneur to do?

It all comes down to scheduled flexibility! And those two words don’t necessarily contradict each other.

Here’s what I do:

First of all, I have blocked off one day a week for fun things. That’s true year-round! Our Fridays are for adventuring. There’s no school (if they kept up with their weekly work for that week) and minimal to no work appointments (except during tax season, because well, tax season!). Our goal is to take a little bit of time to do a quick tidy for the house, so we can go into the weekend with a clean house, and then the rest of the day is free to do what we want.

We have a few friends who know of this schedule, so if we’re going to get together with them, Fridays are usually when those get togethers happen. There are some weeks where we all just need downtime, so we either spend those Fridays at home, or we go to the lake or go hiking just as a family. Sometimes we’re craving friend time so we schedule our activities around who can meet up with us.

Some of our newer friends don’t know that about our Fridays. This though, is only a problem when they want to do something on a weekday other than Friday, but I can’t be with them due to work commitments. In this case, we figure something out that wouldn’t involve me. I might look to see if I can rearrange my schedule, or we try to push it off to a Friday. This is where the flexibility part comes into play.

Sometimes thinking outside of the box is also necessary. There are days when I take my computer with us to the lake and I get some work done while the kids are playing in the water. This way I don’t feel like I’m letting clients down, but the kids are still able to have fun and I’m able to participate after my work is finished. Thankfully, my business is virtual so I have taken multiple Zoom calls from the lake or inside my car. I love the flexibility I have when needed. And all my clients know that I am a mom first!

Here’s an example. We had a beach trip last summer where we met up with another family. The kids were so excited and looking forward to playing with friends and I was looking forward to connecting with the mom. I had some unexpected tasks for clients that needed to be dealt with the day we were supposed to meet with them and couldn’t be put off, so instead of canceling the trip for everyone, I took my computer with us, spent some time talking with the mom while the kids were having fun, then I let her know that I needed to do some work for a bit. She rested & read her book while I worked, then we continued chatting after work was finished! It was a win-win for everyone.

There are also times where we remind the kids that the business is part of our life. There are commitments that must be kept. If clients are going to pay me for a job, I need to get the job done by the deadline I gave them for the project to be completed. I can’t just blow them off because I don’t feel like doing it. What kind of reputation would that be creating for the business if I consistently did that? Or what kind of example would that give my kids?

If you don’t have a virtual business like I do, you’ll have to come up with other options to make summer activities happen. Maybe you’ll have to work earlier or later in the day or do tasks on the weekends when you don’t have things planned. Whatever your business is, think outside the box and find what works best for you, your business, and your family.

There are times though that I have to consciously turn the work part of my brain off. As a business owner, there is always work that needs to be done. There isn’t a clock that we clock out of at 5pm. If you haven’t brought on anyone to help you yet, you’re wearing all the hats. It’s so easy to become a work-acholic when you’re a business owner out of necessity!

But that also wears on you and you’ll burn out if you’re not careful. You need downtime, both physically and mentally. You need time with your kids, for both you and them! If you don’t’ take this time then your body will either force you to take it, by getting sick or burning out, or you’re going to start to resent either the kids or work or both! And we really don’t want that, right?

So even if I have work piled up, if it’s not pressing, I will take the time to be with my kids and have those fun times with them during the summer especially. Mentally sometimes I have to purposely shift my thinking so I can focus on them, but oh man is it worth it when I do it. The peace and relaxation I feel during and the looks on their faces make it worth it.