So recently I asked on my Instagram stories what topics regarding motherhood were you guys most interested in me writing about. And honestly, I got a lot of HOW DO INFLUENCERS DO IT ALL? or HOW ARE YOU MANAGING WORKING AND MAMAHOOD?! And as I sit here with Poppy on my lap, smashing my keyboard, clicking my mouse and just generally causing chaos, I’m going to spill all. the. beans. on how I manage both motherhood and running my business full-time.
Okay so, what’s the secret to all these mama influencers who run a business, do their wifely duties and be a mama without missing a beat?
Well, honestly…
A nanny lol.
But, no really, that’s usually the secret that they don’t want to tell you. And although I have nothing against a little help, I wanted to share how I stay productive (hint: it’s not a nanny). Scroll below to read how I manage motherhood while working full-time.
How I Manage Motherhood While Working Full-time: Spilling ALL the Beans!:
1. Pay for services that save you time
I know that I may get a little slack for this but if you are in a position to pay for services to save you time, then do it! What’s changed my life as a mama and a business owner has been grocery delivery and having a cleaner come and clean my entire home bi-weekly. Prior to paying for these services, I used to spend hours a week on cleaning and a couple of hours a week on grocery shopping (multiple trips a week really add up).
So I downloaded Instacart and hired a Merry Maid and probably will never look back. Now this may sound totally cliche and such a privilege (which it is). But I figure the time I spend cleaning and grocery shopping I can spend with Poppy or working on my business which equals more $$$. I believe time is something valuable and worth spending money on and it’s truly one of the ways I can manage it all.
2. Schedule and batch your life
So I’m still working on perfecting this one but batching everything and scheduling everything makes all the difference.
For example, we *try* and cook all of Poppy’s meals on one or two days. For our meals, we try to make a couple days worth of food (I’m thinking of joining a food subscription though if I’m being honest to make things easier).
I do all the laundry on one day and once again *try* to fold it all on the same day. I tidy up all the rooms in the house (not clean per se since I do have a cleaner but I pick up weekly to keep it organized) on the same day once a week.
Just batching like things together on a particular day has helped me tremendously and keeps me organized.
As for scheduling, my husband and I run a pretty tight schedule almost everyday excluding one day a week (which is either a Saturday or a Sunday). Here is our schedule we follow Monday to Friday:
5:30-6am: We both wake up and I feed Poppy milk
6:45am: Breakfast
8am: I’m on morning duty with Poppy so we go for a walk while my husband gets ready for work
9am: I feed Poppy milk
9:30am: Poppy’s first nap and I get ready for my day
10am-10:30am: Poppy wakes up and I feed her milk again
10:30am-11:35am: Poppy and I play
11:35am: Daddy’s turn to care for Poppy! I plan my day ahead
12pm: Poppy gets milk again 🙂 #mamalife
12:30pm: Poppy gets lunch and I feed myself
1pm: I head back into my office for work
1:30pm: Daddy puts Poppy down for her last nap
2pm-3pm: Poppy will wake-up and I’ll give her milk
1:30pm-4pm: I put my head down and try to get a lot of work done
4pm: I love to spend this time with my husband and Poppy and just focus on them
5:30pm: Poppy gets her dinner
6pm: Poppy’s bedtime routine
6:30pm-7pm: Daddy puts Poppy down for the night
7pm-9pm – Qais and I workout, eat dinner and relax
9pm: I go to shower and Qais will clean up the kitchen and do some work
10pm: I pump and Qais hops in the shower
11pm: I’m always in bed by 11pm but Qais will sometimes work after the shower so he will come to bed later
The reason I love having the same schedule everyday is knowing how to structure my day to be more productive. I have certain days for admin, creating content, writing blog posts and filming videos. I literally schedule my life down to a tee so I can be prepared for my next day and use my time wisely.
3. Set limits on the content you consume
Okay I know this sounds crazy coming from a Content Creator.
But hear me out…
If you consume limitless amounts of content your firstly, going to waste a lot of time and secondly, get yourself in a weird funk. I have had to set CRAZY amounts of boundaries in my content consumption the past month.
I’ve also had to limit how many stories I watch a day and I’ve almost stopped scrolling my home feed. Why? It honestly was wasting my time from doing other productive things and sucking the joy out of my life. It was making me procrastinate watching stories that brought no value to my life. And scrolling was leaving me feeling empty and unmotivated.
So since I’ve limited my time on my phone I’ve been able to create more content which is more value to my audience (YOU GUYS!). It’s helped me feel more motivated and live in the moment. And the comparison game I play everyday while scrolling is something I don’t even think about anymore. And most importantly, it’s given me so much more time back without taking a minute to stop to scroll here and there.
Limit your content consumption = get more time back and feel better about yourself!
4. Your partner needs to help
So this may be different for everybody. Maybe your partner works two jobs and can’t spare any time. Maybe your partner is away right now for work, so it’s just you.
I totally understand this doesn’t apply to everyone, but, if you have anyone in your life willing to help you take care of your baby, take it.
I’m really fortunate that Qais works from home and that we both have flexible schedules.
Him working from home has allowed me to be able to continue to create content since he watches her in the afternoons.
What I’m trying to say is, talk to your partner about having a consistent schedule (that works for both of you) so you can have time to be productive.
For Qais and I, that’s me watching Poppy from 6am to 11:45am and Qais watching her from 11:45am to 4pm.
When Qais watches her, I know I can be super productive and focus on whatever tasks are at hand.
Simply put, don’t be afraid to talk to your partner about working out a schedule to help both of you accomplish whatever your goals or tasks are!
5. Multitasking is your new BFF and frenemy
There was a study done showing that multitasking actually reduces your productivity by 40%. But as a mama myself, I need all the multitasking I can get, but, I also need to use my time wisely.
Which is when I discovered that multitasking is going to become your new BFF and your new frenemy 🙂 let me explain.
So I’ve been DYING to read more. But I literally cannot find the time to sit down and read. It’s not possible without taking time from somewhere else. So what did I do? Audible.
Maybe I’m slow to the punch. But I realized on my morning walks or while I do my makeup I can kill two birds with one stone by listening to books and podcasts. Not only is it uplifting but I’ve been able to crush so many books a week.
I also bought myself a pair of dupe AirPods and that has been so life changing. I can listen to all the things while carrying Poppy, pushing the stroller etc. Mamas, you need these under $50 dupes here.
While multitasking has become my best friend in certain areas (like returning emails while watching tv etc.) it’s also been a hinderance in my productivity.
When it comes to tasks that need more focus, like writing a blog post or creating a vision board for content I want to create I need 1oo% focus.
Even when it comes to cooking, tidying up or time with Poppy, I give whatever I’m doing 100%! So that means no looking at the phone (I do share stories with Poppy but excluding that), no answering emails or texts while writing a blog post etc.
I just focus on whatever I’m doing 100% for however long or until the task is complete.
It’s totally life changing when it comes to productivity and something I highly recommend for any mama looking to get stuff done.
6. Set realistic goals
For the LONGEST time I kept telling myself that I could write 2 blog posts a week, make 2 reels, film 2 youtube videos and be an attentive mama and wife.
Guess what? I can’t do all those things in one week. It’s physically impossible and emotionally draining.
So I decided to stop setting myself up for failure and start making realistic goals.
Now, my goals are 2 blog posts a week or 2 reels a week or 2 youtube videos (batched on a certain day), 3 to 4 pieces of content made (batched + taken in real time) and whatever else I need to get done written in my planner strategically.
I only really set 1 or 2 things to accomplish for work a day. And maybe 1 home thing I want to accomplish a day, such as do Poppy’s laundry or order groceries.
When I realized I can’t do 6 things a day but I can do 1 or 2 things actually made me more productive and feel happier about what I did with my time during the day.
It made me feel like I completed my tasks and I didn’t feel overwhelmed with my never-ending to-do list.
So my suggestion is set realistic goals and to-do lists for your day. Even if it’s just 1 thing you want to accomplish that day. Set it and accomplish it. You’ll feel so much better then having an never ending to-do list that you can’t seem to accomplish.
7. Get your priorities right
One of the hardest things for me was adjusting my priorities after having Poppy.
Like, realizing I can’t keep up with everything and I can’t do it all.
Prior to Poppy, I took pride in keeping my closet organized, doing all the errands to ensure my home was running smoothly and keeping up with friends and family.
Now, I prioritize what needs to get done. My closest gets organized here and there. Errands are done by Instacart, my husband and me whenever I can find the time.
I’m not as on-top of texting friends and family and keeping up with what everyone is up to because I simply don’t have the time.
My priorities are spending time with Poppy and my husband and keeping my business running so we can keep our roof over our heads. 🙂 Period.
This will look different for everyone, so write down your top 5 priorities and make sure you nourish those so they can flourish. Everything else can sit to the side and be tended too when you have time.
Because mama, you can’t do it all!
Quick Q&A:
I asked you guys on IG if you had any other questions on mama hood and working full time. I’m going to answer a few questions that I had gotten:
Do I work full-time hours?
No! It’s just not possible. Since I have Poppy in the mornings and my day ends at 4pm, it’s more like part-time. But, I do work whenever I get a chance. So at night, waiting for dinner to warm-up, parked in the car etc.
How to balance responsibility with your S/O?:
So Qais and I tried a few different ways of splitting responsibility before finding one that worked. We still have some tweaking but overall me watching Poppy during the morning and him watching her in the afternoon works. Talk to your S/O and communicate your schedules and how you can split the responsibility. It may not be perfect at first but trial and error is okay. For example, Qais warms up all Poppy’s meals and I feed them all to her. He makes all our meals since I feed her during. But if you’re the one who’s the better cook then you can cook and your partner can feed the baby, for example. Just clearly communicate the help you need.
Have you considered a nanny?
Honestly, no. Qais and I are really weird about strangers around Poppy! Honest, but true. I would have to have complete trust for a stranger to watch Poppy and I’m not sure if I could ever get to that point. Because of COVID we haven’t had any family help out but I’d prefer family over a nanny.
Have you had any help from family?
No, again. But only because of COVID. I will say I think raising a baby without family or help (either then Qais) makes you a better parent. You have no-one to depend on and you have to learn things quick. It’s been bitter sweet, that’s for sure.
I hope you guys enjoyed this blog post! I know it’s long but I really wanted to spill all the beans and give you guys all my secrets.
Are you a SAHM or do you work from home too?
xo Lauren
