How I Get Work Done as a Mom Entrepreneur

When I tell people that I run a business from home AND have four children, I get lots of different reactions, but the one I get most is disbelief.

"I don't know how you do it!" "You're Superwoman!" "FOUR kids? How do you get anything done?"

I'm going to be honest with you: Sometimes I don't know how I do it either.

Being a mom alone is a tough job, but adding a home business to the mix sounds like something only a crazy person would do.

Maybe I'm crazy?

Ha! Well, that may very well be the case, but I honestly love it.

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Running a business while simultaneously raising my children is not only tough, but it gives me an incredible sense of belonging and purpose. There's no doubt that my main purpose is raising my children, but there's just something about being able to contribute financially and relieve my husband of some of the burden of providing for our family.

Does that resonate with you? Are you a mom who also runs a business?

Do you struggle to find time to work on your business because of the demands of life and little toddlers needing you every single moment they're awake?

Maybe this one tip will help you as it has helped me.

This ONE simple (but definitely not easy) thing helps me to get more work done in less time. It helps me to be more organized. It helps me to think more clearly and be more focused on the necessary tasks of getting it all done.

What is that one simple thing? I'll tell you:

I get up to work HOURS before my children wake up, and when they wake up, I limit my working hours as much as I can.

"Wait a minute, Kari. I thought you were going to give me some life-changing tip that I've never heard of. I'm not doing that. I NEED my sleep!"

Just hear me out, OK?

I love to sleep. I probably love it more than most, just ask my husband. Getting up early, for me, is a huge sacrifice. But sometimes we have to make sacrifices to make things happen, and when those things are important to us, we just do what we have to do, ya know?

A typical morning for me right now looks like this: I get up at 5:30 when my husband leaves for work, and I work until around 9:30 when my kids start waking up. We're on summer break right now, so my kids are sleeping longer.

During the school year, I still get up at 5:30, and I work until round 7. So I'm not able to work as long during the school year, but that's okay. I'm still able to get more done than I usually would just by getting up an hour and a half before they do.

Before I began doing this, I spent months getting as much sleep in the mornings as I possibly could, and you know what? That didn't work out for me. Like, at all.

Take me to the library!

I was waking up when my kids were waking up (and sometimes after that ... shhh!) and let me tell you, as soon as my feet hit the floor, I had on my mom hat, and when I have on my mom hat, I don't work on my business. I can't. There's just too much on my plate with a 2- and 4-year-old.

BUT, if I get up a couple of hours before they do, I'm able to be a businesswoman first thing without any distractions (after coffee, of course), and because I have no distractions, I'm able to get more done in those few hours. And that, to me, is one of the most accomplishing things I've done for myself and my business.

Of course, there is the occasional morning when my 2-year-old wakes up super early and I have to put on my mom hat earlier than I expected to, and that's OK. My babies are little for only a short time, and I need to give them my full attention.

I don't know if being a mom is my "calling," but it's definitely my responsibility. Business will always come second to that. I only have these few years to live out this responsibility, but I have the rest of my life to build my business. When I finally grasped that idea, everything just kind of made more sense, and I was able to figure out a way to do both.

Well, there you have it. That's my ONE simple thing that helps me to get more done in my business as a mom.

What about you? Do you have a "one thing"? I'd love to hear all about it in the comments!