Happy Sunday! A few weeks ago I got to write for The Quiet Nonsense and this week partnered up with them again to share some words from Mica! I’m sure you all are totally sick of me blabbing on about business and babies at this point so I figured I’d give y’all a different perspective! (I’ll also link everything at the bottom!)
Without further ado…
How to Balance Business and Babies
Hey guys!
I’m sure you’ve heard people say you can either have a career or a family, but not both. I’m not sure I agree with that. I think if you can be diligent about prioritizing your family and stick to a consistent routine then you can have both.
But it’s all about that tricky word ‘balance’. Achieving balance in life is difficult no matter what you’re trying to balance, but it’s especially difficult in this circumstance.
Don’t worry too much yet, though! I still believe you can have both and would like to share with you my secrets of balancing a baby (my NK) and my business!
Establish A Routine
I’m a nanny to a one and a half-year-old boy named Jack and I also run my blog, Quiet Nonsense. At home, I have my boyfriend, Hunter, and my Goldendoodle puppy, Ted! I really struggled at first with balancing all of those things, but once I established a routine, things started to smooth out and I realized that I could definitely do both!
I work full-time for my current nanny family and my shifts are either from 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. or 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. The 7-7 days are usually my most productive days regarding the blog (besides my days off, of course), so I usually try to schedule my writing or calls on these days.
Don’t misunderstand me, I definitely don’t spend all day at my nanny job working on the blog– not even close, actually. I’ve established set times during my work days to get certain things done, but the rest of the time is wholly dedicated to playing with Jack. Plus, those few hours where I am working are good for him because he gets to practice independent play!
Here’s my current work-day schedule:
7:00 a.m. – Arrive at work
8:00 a.m. – Wake Jack up
8:30 a.m. – Breakfast
9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. – Write a blog article
10 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Fun activity with Jack
11:45 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. – Jack eats lunch and I exercise while I watch him
12:15 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – Jack naps and I have calls or catch up on other blog work
3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Snack time and playtime with Jack/running errands for the NF
4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. – Write a blog article
5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. – Playtime with Jack
6:00 p.m. – 6:30 p.m. – Dinner
6:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. – Off work
Note: On my 7-3 shifts I still stick to this schedule, it just cuts off at 3:00 p.m.
As it stands right now, I’m only dedicating two complete hours to the blog during Jack’s waking hours and I use his naptime, an additional two and a half hours, to have conference calls, catch up on emails, write articles, or do other administrative tasks.
I will say that I do have my phone with me all the time because my team is pretty big (about 20 people), so I have to be available to answer questions when they reach out. Besides that, when it’s time for me to focus on Jack I’m really good at putting everything aside to spend time with him!
Stick to Your Routine
It’s so important that once you establish your routine you stick to it! It’s when you get out of your normal routine that chaos starts to reign. So, make it a priority to be consistent with your schedule and I’m confident you’ll see a boost in your productivity!
Prioritize Your Family on Your Days Off
Unfortunately, I had a lot of trouble sticking to this one when I first started the blog. I put a lot of pressure on myself to be there for my team 24/7 and that led to stressful weekends and not a whole lot of quality time with my own little family.
What I had to realize is that people can wait. Even though I still try to respond as quickly as possible to my team because I respect their time, I’ve started leaving my phone in the other room when I’m spending time with my boyfriend and puppy. It was a really hard boundary to establish, but once it was in place I realized how much better I felt!
I also try to schedule most of working from home during times that Hunter is working, making time for just the two of us when we’re both home at the same time!
It’s important to remember that your family is all you’ve got at the end of the day. It’s crazy to think about the fact that if all the internet servers in the world went down permanently, my whole blogging project would cease to exist. My family wouldn’t, though, and that’s what I always remind myself.
Take care of your relationships with the important people in your life because they matter the most!
Be Willing to Take A Hard Look at Yourself
As much as I hate doing it, I’ve had to periodically take hard looks at myself and my time spent on the blog and readjust. No one likes to have to readjust and admit that they’ve been prioritizing the wrong things, but keep in mind that it’s not the end of the world!
We are all human and we make mistakes. It’s completely normal to get off track sometimes, but what matters is how you handle the situation and move forward.
If you’re noticing that your significant other gets annoyed at you when you’re working, consider that you may be dedicating too much time to it. They obviously have some desire to spend time with you away from your computer/phone and responsibilities, so make them a priority at that moment and acknowledge that you’ve been caught up in work lately.
Balancing a business and babies is all about self-discipline and a willingness, to be honest with yourself!
If you can master those two traits, I genuinely believe you can have a career and a family!
Speak soon!
Mica
Thequietnonsense.com
@thequietnonsense
@bumptobabies
Bump to Babies 