Ever wondered how to juggle a home-based business and a bustling family life during the summer months? On this week's Girl Means Business podcast, I'm sharing tried-and-true strategies to help you navigate the chaos of summer vacation as a work-from-home parent. Discover how to create a flexible daily routine that balances early morning work sessions with fun midday activities and afternoon downtime. The goal? To stay productive while cherishing those special moments with your kids!
Summer doesn't have to mean sacrificing your business goals. Learn the benefits of planning ahead and involving your children in your work. From pre-scheduling content to avoiding large projects, these tips will ensure a stress-free and enjoyable summer. Plus, hear my personal stories about the importance of taking breaks to avoid burnout and rejuvenate your passion for your business. Tune in, get inspired, and make this summer both productive and memorable!
_______________________________________
Ask Me Anything: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1R0DmOLEQ8xjWf98Xcf7K9YBhhaXRiIkuoOTqirVHlRk/prefill
_______________________________________
Let's Work Together:
The Focused Photographer Lab (marketing membership): www.girlmeansbusiness.com/lab
Ever wondered how to juggle a home-based business and a bustling family life during the summer months? On this week's Girl Means Business podcast, I'm sharing tried-and-true strategies to help you navigate the chaos of summer vacation as a work-from-home parent. Discover how to create a flexible daily routine that balances early morning work sessions with fun midday activities and afternoon downtime. The goal? To stay productive while cherishing those special moments with your kids!
Summer doesn't have to mean sacrificing your business goals. Learn the benefits of planning ahead and involving your children in your work. From pre-scheduling content to avoiding large projects, these tips will ensure a stress-free and enjoyable summer. Plus, hear my personal stories about the importance of taking breaks to avoid burnout and rejuvenate your passion for your business. Tune in, get inspired, and make this summer both productive and memorable!
_______________________________________
Ask Me Anything: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1R0DmOLEQ8xjWf98Xcf7K9YBhhaXRiIkuoOTqirVHlRk/prefill
_______________________________________
Let's Work Together:
The Focused Photographer Lab (marketing membership): www.girlmeansbusiness.com/lab
Know Your Niche Workbook- https://spring-feather-348.myflodesk.com/
_______________________________________ Let's Be Friends:
Instagram: www.instagram.com/girlmeansbusiness
Facebook: www.facebook.com/girlmeansbusiness
Speaker 1:
Hey there and welcome to the Girl Means Business podcast, the show where we're all about helping you feel confident both as a mom and a business owner. I'm your host, kendra Swalls, mom of two, former teacher and full-time photographer and business coach. Each week, we'll discuss the challenges, success and secrets that make you say I can do this, because you absolutely can. So pop in those earbuds, grab your favorite snack and let's dive in, because this girl means business. Hello there and welcome to the Girl Means Business podcast. We are deep in the throes of summer vacation Now.
Speaker 1:
For those of us with kids at home, this is the time of year that we all love and hate at the same time, especially as work from home parents. All of us in COVID had this understanding and realization, and now we get to do it every summer for two and a half months, and it never fails. No matter how much I plan for or no matter how much I know that it's coming, it always seems to just like pop up and I'm like, oh crap, it is now summer and my kids are home and my routine is completely out the window. So today's episode is dedicated to all of you lovely mamas who are in the middle of trying to navigate how to find this beautiful harmony between getting all of your stuff done in a day for work and home and life and being a mom and being present and enjoying summer with your kids, or shuffling them to and from their camps and their activities and play dates and water parks and all the things, because I know that it is this high wire act that we are all doing, and then school will come back around, we will have routine again and if you're a mom of a little like little bitty ones who are not in school age yet, you're probably rolling your eyes and going guys, this is what I do all year long and, trust me, I've been there.
Speaker 1:
But there's something different about when that school age hits and summer rolls around. Everything becomes so much more relaxed, and even in like just corporate world. I mean, my husband works in the corporate world and even for him summertime feels just a little more relaxed and it's good. But it also means that we have to be a little more disciplined when it's good, but it also means that we have to be a little more disciplined when it comes to getting things done. So what I want this episode to be, it's going to be kind of short and sweet, just like I know you don't have a ton of time in the summer to listen to a whole long episode. But I wanted to share with you five tips, five things that I have done, or that I'm doing currently, that have helped to make summers a little bit smoother, so that I don't feel like I am thinking about work when I'm hanging out with my kids and I don't think about the mom guilt when I'm trying to get my work done. So let's get into the five.
Speaker 1:
Number one is create a new routine. Now, when I have my day-to-day life, work life. When the kids are in school, my routine is very much when they are at school, from eight o'clock until three o'clock it is work mode, and I will have days where, yeah, I might go have lunch with a friend, or my days are a little bit more scattered and all over the place, but it's still those are my work hours scattered and all over the place, but it's still those are my work hours. And it's easier for me, when I have that eight to three time, to turn it off at four o'clock or five o'clock and say you know what? It is family time because I got everything done in my day that I need to get done. Now, when summertime hits, that schedule gets turned upside down a little bit, and so I have to create a new daily routine. So a lot of times this new daily routine requires a little bit more flexibility and a little bit more or, I guess, a little less structure.
Speaker 1:
So typically, the way that works best for my kids and I my kids are now eight and 12. They're a little bit more self-sufficient is that I will get up and I will start my work day. They get up, they will, they'll sleep in a little bit. They-sufficient is that I will get up and I will start my work day. They get up, they will. They'll sleep in a little bit. They'll have breakfast, they will lay around and watch TV for a little while, and then we kind of slowly, around 10 o'clock, start our day.
Speaker 1:
Like, we usually take the mornings to be very low key, kind of laid back. But that's nice for me because I can get up and start working, even if that means I'm working from the couch or I'm working from the kitchen counter. While they're having breakfast. I can at least get some things checked off of my list before 10 o'clock and then we kind of take the bulk of the day, so 10, 11-ish to about one or two, is what I consider like family time. So that's when we'll go out to the pool or we'll go to the water park and we'll go to a movie, or maybe we just go like do something fun outside, or, you know, we'll go meet up with some friends or we'll go have lunch somewhere.
Speaker 1:
I just kind of allow myself that time to spend time focused on them. That's the time of day when they are the most, I guess, energetic and they're the most, you guess, energetic. They're the most, you know, wanting my time because they had their quiet morning. They want to do something fun or they want to do an activity. And then by about two o'clock we come back to our house or we come back inside and we're like okay, we're going to have some downtime, because a lot of times with two daughters they need time apart anyway. And this is where we kind of all go into our separate places and we'll say like, okay, everybody go pick a room in the house, whether that, you know. We say like the living room is kind of off limits because that's our general space, but we'll say someone gets a bedroom, someone gets a playroom, someone gets an office, someone gets the other bedroom. Like they kind of go to their own spaces and we have our alone time, like we have time to do things that are just quiet on our own. It could be reading a book, it could be, you know, coloring or drawing, or doing an art project or watching a show.
Speaker 1:
And then I get to come into the office and I get more time to get some work done, and so that time you know usually an hour or two, about one to two o'clock until about three or four o'clock. We just kind of have like this is the heat of the day, but it gives us time to each kind of do something where we have our own little bit of space, and it allows me to come back in, catch up on emails, work on a few more projects, get some things done, and then in the afternoons, evenings, we're a little more laid back, as far as like I might work some afternoons. If I feel like I didn't get enough done during the day, then I will work in the evenings after my husband gets home for a little while. Or if I didn't get enough done in the day, I'll work at night after everybody goes to bed. So I'm a little more flexible on the hours of the day that I work and I just kind of build it around what works for my family.
Speaker 1:
Now, when my kids were really little and we would have nap times, I would build it around their nap times. Now there's going to be weeks where my kids have sports camps or activities or they're going off to this thing or that thing and I have to be a little more flexible on my hours because it's based on their activities and that's fine too. And so when it comes to things like scheduling sessions, like scheduling podcast interviews, like scheduling sessions, like scheduling podcast interviews, scheduling coaching calls, scheduling trainings, I just try to build it around those times when I'm like, okay, if I did a training at 9am to 10am, I know that we're probably just going to be home chilling. If I scheduled a coaching call between 2pm and 4pm, there's a pretty good chance we're going to be at home. But I probably wouldn't schedule them during the times of day when I know my kids want to be the most active or when I know that my kids are probably going to need to be taken somewhere or picked up from somewhere. So just kind of generally knowing what the routine could be each day, but then also giving myself the flexibility to say there's going to be some weeks where this completely gets flipped on its head, and that's fine too. But my kids are also at the age where I can have the conversations with them and I can say, hey, it's summer vacation, I still have to work, I still have to make money, I still have to be responsible and have these tasks, these people that I'm responsible for and to, and so I need to do these things. And then when I do those things for a couple hours, we can go do something fun for a couple hours. So I have that conversation with them so that they understand that it's not just me locking myself into an office. All right, number two, um, kind of goes along with number one. It's just be flexible.
Speaker 1:
If you're someone who really, really loves and thrives on routine, this is probably not your favorite time of year. I'm not going to be going to lie, that's a little rough. I like routine but I also like flexibility, so it can be a little bit of a challenge if you're someone who is like but I really like knowing that from this time to this time I'm going to get all the things done I need to have done, or I'm going to at least have the freedom to do that, because I don't have to be somewhere else. If that is the type of person you are, recognize that and plan your summer activities around what you need to get done in your business. But for the most part, you're just going to have to be a little bit more flexible on, like I said, with the routine, with what you can get done in a day. I tend to not plan a lot of really big projects during the summer because I know that I'm not going to have the same amount of time to devote to those things as I would, you know, in the fall, when the kids are back in school, or in the spring, when they're, you know, busy with school as well, or when I have a little bit more time. So, just being flexible in your schedule but also flexible in what you know that you can actually take on during these summer months. So, again, don't plan some big, huge project or launch during this time if you know you're not going to be able to devote as much time to it as you could during the regular school year.
Speaker 1:
Okay, number three is a big one and it's a little late in the season to tell you this part, but I'm going to go ahead and do it anyway, and that is to plan ahead. So planning ahead means, for example, these podcast episodes. I have all of my podcast episodes for the entire summer already recorded and scheduled and ready to go. So that's one thing on my like weekly to-do list that for the next eight weeks 12, and I guess that's eight nine I have about 10 or 11 weeks done. That's 10 or 11 weeks worth of things already checked off my to-do list. I already have them uploaded. I have the blog posts ready to go for each one. I have graphics ready for each one. I have graphics scheduled on my social media calendar. It's all done. So I don't have to think about it.
Speaker 1:
There are so many incredible tools out there available to you to help you plan ahead for so many things in your business. And so, even if it's not planning ahead like content wise for the whole summer, if you can pick one day at the beginning of each month and say this is the day that I'm going to plan out my content for the rest of the month and schedule it out, or this is the day that I'm going to plan out. You know, all of my emails that I know need to get sent on certain days for follow ups for different clients or reminders for different clients. Schedule those out Anything you can do to plan ahead. If you know that your family is going to be on vacation for a week in July, then plan ahead now. Start planning for. Okay, what do I need to make sure gets done during that week that I can schedule in advance? Are there emails that need to be sent that I can schedule in advance? Is there content I need to create that can be scheduled in advance? Are there, you know, client meetings that need to be pushed out to some other time? What are the things that you can do so that, when you are on that vacation, you can breathe a little bit easier, knowing that things are still running smoothly? If it means that you need to outsource some things during that time, outsource those things during that time. Whatever you need to do in order to feel like your business can keep running, even though you might be taking a little bit of a slower pace or you might be on vacation for a little while. Anything you can do now. That's going to help you feel more relaxed and confident and comfortable when you're on vacation or for the rest of the summer. Go ahead and do it now as much as you possibly can. Again, there's so many tools that will help you do that.
Speaker 1:
Number four this is a fun one Get your kids involved. Now, this used to be something that I struggled not really struggled with, I would say, but it just didn't cross my mind. So when my kids were a little bit younger, I would kind of put everything into a box. It was like okay, this is my work, this is my family, this are my friends, and everything was compartmentalized. When I started mixing them all together, it became way more fun.
Speaker 1:
So now again, my kids are eight and 12. So they're a little bit older, but they understand what I do. They know what my business is, they know what my photography business and my coaching business. I let them in and I talk about it. They asked me a lot of times when I picked them up from school during the school year and asked them how their day was and what they did during the day and if anything exciting happened or anything you know, that made them feel a certain way like we have this whole conversation and they'll turn around back on me Well, how was your day? Well, what did you do today? How did your coaching call go today? How did that make you feel Like we have these really cool conversations now that they're a little bit older, so they know what it is that I do.
Speaker 1:
So when I let them into my world and my business, then, one, it made them way more understanding of the times when I was like, hey, I'm going to have to go do this thing for a little while, but then when I get done or when I get back, we'll have time together. They were way more understanding of that. And then, two, it allowed them to be like well, I want to help with that. Like, can I be a part of that? So there have been times when you know maybe I'm working on a project or something, and they'll come in and be like was there anything I can help you do? And I'll be. Like you know, my oldest one is learning how to use Canva, and so I'll be like yeah, do you want to design a Canva graphic for this? She's like sure, and I'll give her, you know, the template that I use, or the few templates that I use and then she'll go in and she'll change all the things for me in Canva and have them ready for me or my youngest one. Really, for her it's mostly just like she wants to hang out and be around me and like watch me record a podcast episode or you know, sitting here with me while I edit photos. Like that stuff's interesting to her. Both of them have been to photo shoots with me and been my little assistant on my photo shoots.
Speaker 1:
So I think, depending on the age of your kids, letting them be involved in what you're doing in your business, letting them into your world, not only will help them understand a little bit more. Whenever you do need to kind of step away and go. I have to get these things done. It's not mom's locking herself into an office and getting in working, it's mom's doing these things in her business and that's what helps her business grow. And they can be a little more understanding of that. Or, if they're old enough that they can actually get a little bit involved in your business, let them get a little bit involved.
Speaker 1:
I told my oldest daughter I was like you know what? This summer is my summer of Pinterest. I am learning and diving all into using Pinterest and I need help creating graphics for my Pinterest pens. So I have about 10 different graphics like templates that I use, and I told her. I said you know what, what? If I pay you $1 for each graphic that you designed for me, and so each podcast episode, each blog post I need, I'm going to give it to give you the information. You take it, you create the pens for it, and then I'll pay you $1 for every pen you create for me. And so I'm going to make her one of my you know contract employees this summer and see how she does. Now. It may not go well, it may go fabulously, I don't know yet We'll see. She's still learning how to use canvas, so it'll be an experiment for sure, but I love that she's interested and she wants to learn and she wants to be involved, so it's a great way to get her into what I'm doing in my business.
Speaker 1:
Okay, last but not least, number five is don't be afraid to take a break. Give yourself the space to say you know what I want to take this summer to really focus on enjoying this time with my kids. You know, maybe your kids are getting to the point where, like, they're about to not want to spend a whole lot of time with you in the summer, they're aging out of wanting to hang out with you a lot of times, or they're getting ready to go off to college in a couple of years, or maybe they're going to be starting school in a few years and you're like you know what? I just want to enjoy this time for a little bit longer, and so give yourself the grace to go. You know what. It's okay If I don't post as often to social media in the summer because I'm spending time with my kids, and it's okay if that blog post doesn't get published every single week. Maybe I only do two a month instead of four a month for the next two or three months because I'm spending time with my kids or my family or we're going on vacations, like it's okay. It's okay to take a break.
Speaker 1:
You know, last, last summer, actually last August I took a break from the podcast and that was one of the main reasons why it was. I was like I was feeling really burned out. I felt like I it was taking away some of the joy I had in podcasting because I was having to do it a lot of times over the summer with my kids around and it was becoming this frustrating thing and I was like I'm just so burned out with this so I took a break and ultimately I realized like how much I missed it and I loved it and so I came back to it. But if I needed that break in order to stop the burnout from getting to a point where I was completely done, then it was worth taking that break. So if these summer months, if you, if it's causing you to feel resentment over I just want to enjoy this time with my kids and I can't because I have to do this stuff, obviously there's parts of your business you're going to have to do in order to keep it running.
Speaker 1:
But if you're able to take a step back, if you are able to outsource things to other people or if you're able just to kind of hit pause for a little while in certain areas of your business, then by all means do it. It is absolutely fine. It is not going to completely ruin or destroy your business. If you know again, obviously make smart choices like don't completely hit pause on everything If you need that income for your business or for your family, but if there are parts of it that you can hit pause on and come back to when summer is winding down. Then do that, give yourself the grace and give yourself the space to enjoy this time, because it's why we all did this in the first place At least I know that is for me was that I wanted to have the freedom and the flexibility to choose when I worked and when I spent time with people that I loved, and having my kids home for the summer and being able to go and enjoy being around them more often is one of the big reasons why I love what I get to do and I don't want to spend all summer working and ignoring my kids.
Speaker 1:
So I'm giving myself the grace. I'm doing these things, I'm planning ahead, I am putting things in a place that are automated, that allow me to kind of step away and take a break from some of the things, like this podcast not take a break, but, you know, have them planned ahead. I'm being flexible and creating routines that work for me, I'm getting my kids involved in things, and all of that together is going to help create, hopefully, this beautifully kind of balanced, harmonized summer where I still get to do the work I enjoy. I still get to keep my business thriving and running, but I'm also getting to enjoy time with my kids. All right, I hope these tips give you some ideas, some thoughts, some things to work on this summer. I hope you are enjoying your summer with your family and kids.
Speaker 1:
One thing I remind you of really quickly before we go is two things actually. One, if you have not left a review for this podcast on Apple, itunes or on Spotify or anywhere else you listen to this, I would absolutely love for you to go and leave a review. Let us know what you think of the show. Not only does it help to boost the show and expose us to new audiences, but it lets new listeners know why you love the show and what they can expect from it. Second thing is, if you have questions, ideas or if you want to send us a direct review, you can click the button below that says send me a message, and that will send me a direct message via text that lets me know what question you have, what ideas you have or thoughts you had about the episodes or any feedback that you have, and then I can use that going forward to inform the rest of the episodes I create for you.
Speaker 1:
All right, guys? I hope you have a wonderful week and I will see you back here next week Same time, same place. Back here next week, same time, same place. Thank you so much for tuning in this week. If you enjoyed this episode, I would love for you to take a screenshot, share it to social media and don't forget to tag Girl Means Business. And, as always, we greatly appreciate any reviews you leave for this podcast. Thank you so much for being here and we'll see you next week.
