5 Time Management Tips for Stay-at-home Mom Entrepreneurs Micro-managing multiple roles can be a challenging task. Here's how to best manage your time
By Rustam Singh
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As a stay-at-home mom, you've already got the world's most important job: managing a home. Juggling through multiple roles every day, from chores to micro-management, kids, and providing the right environment for the family to grow mentally, spiritually and emotionally, everyday is battle against the clock. This seldom leaves any time to actively pursue your entrepreneurship idea, leave alone think of expanding business forward without being distracted by household work. Switching through multiple roles and different duties all day can be an exhausting and difficult task to accomplish.
For stay at home mom entrepreneurs, common start-up ideas can be fashion resellers, consultancy, bakery, custom homemade fresh foods, pickles, tuitions, or even content writing. If this situation sounds familiar to you, you're not alone. Here are some tips to manage your time:
Future planning
Planning for the future can save you valuable time and resources spend in processing and taking orders and proceeding with your start-up activities. Would a upcoming festival, weekend or big day increase or decrease orders? Would your goods/services require you to stock up in advance for a heavy day? Should you make critical decisions on time and have a backup? These questions can be resolved by jotting down your key pointers and planning ahead in time.
Keep a journal – and stick by it
Mental notes have frail memory. Preserve a journal to record your activities and to-do list where you note all activities. Having ideas and activities written down not only ensures you don't lose track of work and deadlines, but also serves as a nudge for you reach out.
Maintain a financial book
Even minor business expenses can be lost in memory if you don't write them down. Try maintaining a formal/informal log of your finances. This can also serve as an encouragement to actually watch your money grow and calculate how many profits you're making. Having a visual representation of your expenses can also help reduce them because you're able to analyze after a month/week where you overshoot your budget.
Embrace technology
From smart apps that help you micromanage, to smart software that shave off valuable seconds from menial tasks every day, technology has drastically altered the way we look at businesses. Consider adopting a digital model for transactions that automatically maintains records of transactions, en e-payment model for funding that saves cash transactions, and using other start-ups for delivery/execution. A tie-up with another start-up can save you valuable time and also help gain good publicity for being progressive in your start-up.
Consider involving family
Sometimes splitting duties and work with your family can help share the burden and responsibilities of home as well as your start-up. Even involving kids can help relieve the stress of work and help lighten a tense work environment. Share household work with the family and share your anxieties and work related stress. Sometimes all it takes to save time and manage better is knowing someone close to you has got your back no matter what happens.
How do you manage your time and dual lives as an entrepreneur? Let us know in the comments on our official Facebook page Entrepreneur India
