How To Save Time As A Mom And Small Business Owner

What if you could master the art of balancing your business and family life seamlessly? Join us as we dive into practical, time-saving tips specifically designed for mompreneurs. Learn how to strategically schedule your days, prioritize tasks effectively, and use digital tools to stay organized. We discuss the importance of dedicating specific days to either family or business to ensure both get the attention they need. Plus, discover the power of delegation and outsourcing to manage your responsibilities better, helping you maximize your productivity and maintain a balanced life.

Are you ready to say goodbye to fear, frustration, and overwhelm when it comes to growing and scaling your business? You’re in the right place. Welcome to  Beyond Common Business Secrets Podcast I’m your host, Tracey Watts Cirino

Chapters

• 0:00 Time-Saving Tips for Mompreneurs
• 17:46 Self-Care and Time-Saving Strategies
• 25:11 Business Support Community

Transcript

Tracey Watts Cirino: 1:09

Hello and welcome to Beyond Common Business Secrets. I'm your host, T racey Watts Ci rino, and I am , so excited that you are here. So today's episode we are diving deep into a subject that's near and dear to my heart, not only because this is the phase of life I'm in right now, but also because it's an area that I help so many of my business owner clients that are struggling in this area. So in this episode, we're going to tackle unique challenges faced by mompreneurs. So today's episode is how to save time as a mom and a small business owner. So many of our clients, so many of our listeners are business owners who are also moms, so we wanted to do an episode that was all about how you can tackle these unique challenges when you are a mompreneur. So if that is you, you are in the right place. Today you're going to learn all about practical time-saving tips that will help you create more harmony in your business and in your family life. And in your family life, you're going to learn how to I don't use this word lightly, but you're going to learn how to balance that more effectively, right and so, from smart scheduling hacks to prioritizing self-care, in this episode it is packed with actionable advice to help you maximize your productivity and find harmony between work and motherhood so that you're not chasing that perpetual balance because that is the thing I always say do not do that. So don't miss this episode, because we are diving into essential strategies that are going to make your life easier and make your business more successful. So who doesn't want that? Are you with me, my friend? So let's dig in. So when you're thinking about the overwhelming amount of things that are on your to-do list as a business owner and a mom, and then you combine the two, it can be like, oh, my goodness. So when we're looking at this through the lens that there are so many demands of running a small business and raising a family, it can be incredibly challenging. So, however, with the right strategies, it is possible to manage both successfully. That is why I really wanted to create this special episode just for you that is packed with time-saving tips designed specifically for you, for you busy business owner moms.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 4:16

So the first thing that we need to really look at is the lens of understanding the challenges, because when we bring mindfulness and awareness here, we can break it down. It's when we let things spin out in our mind and don't bring mindfulness and awareness to it that they have power. It's like, almost as soon as you say it out loud or write it down, you've taken back the power. So when you hear yourself saying something like, oh, it's in my head or that's in my head, that is a sign that you are operating from a place of fight or flight, and it is not good for your nervous system. So if that's you, my friend, buckle up, because you need this episode more than you even realize it. So, with the unique challenges that you face, juggling your business and family responsibilities, this is going to be really helpful for you.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 5:26

So the number one thing that you need to think about is key time-saving tips that are really going to help you as a mom, premier, or a mom who is also a small business owner. I have so many clients that are small business owners that might own multiple locations, but they consider themselves small business owners who are also busy moms. And then I have some clients that consider themselves solopreneurs that are also moms. So that's why I don't always use that word mama, mama, mama, premier, because I can't say it that well, no, and because not, because not everybody resonates with that, but know that you are all welcome here and it is all for the greatest good of all. So what it looks like for the first key to your time-saving tip would be smart scheduling. So number one is the smart scheduling, and you want to create a detailed schedule that prioritizes your most important tasks. So on a day that family is the focus, you want your most important tasks to be all about family, and then on a day that is like this is my day for working on my business or in my business, that can be working, and then you figure out child care or whatever needs to happen for the kiddos. So when you create a detailed schedule that prioritizes your most important tasks, you can use digital tools and apps to stay organized and ensure you make the most of your time. So there are so many different apps that can help you save time.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 7:25

I love to use a. I use a digital calendar and a written calendar because my brain gets activated when I write stuff down. If that is not the case for you, just a digital calendar that you block out your smart scheduling is fine, but I like to look over my whole calendar and put in all the most important days, like the days I am taking off, the days I'm doing stuff for the kids. I do that before I allow all of my business and client work onto my calendar for the month and then I treat those as high value and high priority as my client appointments. So when you do this smart scheduling, you will make sure you actually always have time for a vacation. You actually always have time for you know discovery play dates. Like the kids and I did a strawberry picking this morning that I didn't know what we were going to do but I had it on my calendar that this was like our fun family activity day, because we have a lot of things on our summer bucket list and you can just have a family bucket list for the year if you're listening to this at a different time of year. But really making sure that you're checking things off that list, I think is really important because it helps the family feel that they're a priority and not that your business is always winning. It's always like sucking the life out of the family time. So you want to make sure.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 9:02

Number two for your time-saving tips would be delegation and outsourcing. Do not be afraid to delegate tasks or outsource certain aspects of your business. If you are not good at marketing and you can afford to have someone else do it, outsource your marketing to a trusted organization that will make like if you had to pay. This is we do this often. So if you paid our team $ 5,000 or $ 10,000 a month to do all of your marketing, it would give you back 20 to $25,000 of value right out of the gate, plus all the new clients you would attract.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 9:49

So the thing is is that when you look at it through that lens like, can I afford $5,000 a month? Can I afford $10,000 a month? Well, yeah, if it's saving you $25,000 of value and bringing in more clients, you absolutely can. So the thing is is think about it through that lens. Like you need to be clear about what you're delegating and outsourcing for. So when you delegate and outsource for things that will free up a lot of time and make you more money, then you're able to outsource and delegate more tasks. So you want to think about what areas of your business that are the biggest time suck are the biggest pain. Or maybe you just aren't good at them. You don't like them. That is going to be the places to start Now if you are somebody that isn't in the position to afford those things. Do little ways of grouping things together. Be like when you are going to like, say, you're going to do content creation, I do it very strategically, where it's like I do all the creative writing and inspiration one day, then I record all the videos. Another day, then I have, you know, my team schedule it right. But if you don't have a team, then you would be the person that had another day that you scheduled it all. But working in those types of buckets you can get so much done in quicker amounts of time. So really utilize time blocking and smart strategies to help you.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 11:33

Number three is setting up boundaries. So you want to establish clear boundaries between your work and family time. This will help prevent burnout and ensures you can give your best at both. So if you are working yourself to oblivion and on the verge of burnout, you need a break from everything right. You need to figure out how to step back so that you will be more effective in both your business and as a mom. So we do no good for others when we are burnt out, stressed out and on the brink of complete and utter destruction. It is not good for you, it's not good for the children, it's not good for your clients, it's not good for your staff. So really really set clear boundaries and force yourself to stick to them. This is why when you hire a business coach or you are in like one of our group coaching programs, this kind of creates a built-in level of accountability that really helps you stay true to these.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 12:51

Because the number one thing I hear from business owners all the time when I first start working with them is I didn't realize how much I needed a boss Like. I really always wanted to be my own bit, like my own business, but having a boss that really organized her time was really good for me, which is really interesting that I hear that so much. I am not that way personally. I am much better at holding schedules and optimizing my time with efficiency. I get annoyed personally when anyone tells me what to do, but most of the clients that I work with figure out wow, I did not know how much. Being an entrepreneur and business owner, it's hard because I don't have a boss. That's like making sure I stick to a time schedule, so it's taking up more time than I ever thought possible. It's like going over into my life and I don't want that Like. That's what I hear so often from people. So really set crystal clear boundaries, because that's gonna be so important to your overall growth. Okay, and like in the beginning, when you're just getting started, you might have a list of a hundred things that need to get done. Now pick the most, the 10 biggest priorities, and put those on a piece of paper, right, and do those 10 first. Don't do all 10 in a day because it's not possible. Right, some of them are projects, some of them take time. But if you give yourself a strategic amount say you have three hours a day until these 10 things are done, it could take a month, it could take a year, does not matter. You will not move on to the next 100 things on the list till the top 10 most important things that will make the biggest impact and make the biggest difference get done, that will make the biggest impact and make the biggest difference get done. But you do not work on those by letting it bleed into your family time, unless this is the I'm giving you like a way, I'm giving you like a little, unless, like here's the thing of why I always say balance is bullshit and seeking harmony is most important. This is why and seeking harmony is most important. This is why Don't be confused and fooled by that perpetual hamster wheel of balance, balance, like. I just need more balance. That is something that's been fed to us that makes women, especially women that are also business owners, makes them crazy. To remove the level of chaos, overwhelm and crazy, we need to seek harmony Now. We need to understand like sometimes you might be in a launch phase, like when we're about to launch the CEO power vote again, and when we're in the launch phase of that, some of my other things will not get as much time right. It can't be perfectly in balance because we are in a launch phase, so that's going to get more attention. Then there might be times that, like summer, like the kids and doing fun stuff with them. That is the majority of my focus, but I still want to be growing my business, so you see how they can live in harmony, understanding that there's going to be highs and lows to both, but it's not always going to be in balance. So understand that and embrace it, that it is okay, like when I'm writing a book, I might need a couple of weeks to go away alone in a cabin and write Well, I'm going to make sure that there's lots of fun stuff planned for the kids to do. I'm going to get so much work done so that when I get back I am like all in on whatever they need there. So be clear that it's harmony that you're seeking when you're really placing a value on this.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 16:58

Number four from our list of key time-saving tips would be self-care. So get really clear on what self-care means for you. We have a guide on self-love and care. I'll put that in the show notes if you want to grab it. It's just a free guide that you can use for any of this, and taking care of yourself is crucial for maintaining productivity and managing stress. So you want to incorporate your self-care daily routines, you know, into your daily routine. You want to have things that are super important, that are of high value to you. Do not take the list of someone else if it's not important to you. So here's an example You'll go and download the self-love and care guide.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 17:46

It's going to take you through some questions to ask yourself. Answer them from your heart. If getting a massage is like icky to you and you hate it, then don't put that on your list of self-care. You do not have to learn to like it. If you hate it, do something else. Maybe you like a sound bath meditation that feels great, no one's touching you and it sounds awesome, and you get to elevate your level of meditation and transcend to a whole nother dimension. That's why I love it right. Or you could find it completely annoying and you don't. So the thing is is find the things that are self-care to you. What does self-care for yourself, for your being, look and feel like?

Tracey Watts Cirino: 18:32

Number five is utilize technology. So leverage technology to automate routine tasks and streamline your workflow. This can save you a significant time and effort. Leverage technology to automate routine tasks and streamline your workflow. This can save you a significant time and effort. One of my absolute favorite softwares for all female business owners, entrepreneurs, mom entrepreneurs to use is FG. It streamlines everything. You can create your offers. You can have your emails. You can automate things. Your offers, you can have your emails. You can automate things. You can have different pipelines of events you're trying to create. You can create your website pages, your calendar, all the different offers that you have. It combines so many different softwares. Even automating the way like when you're on social media content is posting. You can do that as well.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 19:29

So this is my number one recommendation is to find software that makes your life easier and more efficient, so I'll put that link in the show notes. And then there's also another guide that we have for you is the five strategies for creating more time, and this is a checklist that you can use to really go through, and it walks you through, a lot of the technology questions as well. So that's an area that can use a lot of love, right, the self-love and care. And technology Simplify Technology, when used correctly, will optimize and shortcut so much of our repetitive tasks so that in our business we can be more present and alert for all the things that require only you. But all these little repetitive cannot be for only you, right? These are things that need to get delegated or automated within your technology suite. So download the guides, use them, enjoy them, take care of yourself. These are so, so important.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 20:54

So some practical things that you can do to implement all of the stuff that we're talking about are to number one, create a daily routine. Create a daily routine that works for both your business and for your family life these are really important and be creative in how you do it. When you set the rules for yourself, you're actually much more likely to follow it. Then number two would be to plan your week in advance, setting specific goals and objectives for each day. This helps you stay focused and organized. So if you have a certain number of things that you need to track, then you maybe say I'm going to do these five things every day, monday through Friday, or I want to make sure I do 20, I want to reach out to 20 different people that might be interested in my new book that's coming out.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 21:53

You know, whatever it is that you have going on, you might have, you know, 20 new businesses that you want to connect with to let them know that your new business. You're an accountant and you just opened up your own business. Right, that could be it. You just opened up a yoga studio. You are now transitioning from working for someone to now having your own chair that you're renting in your own business for salon, for makeup. It could be a million things. I often work with a lot of coaches and industry experts, and this could be that you want to pitch yourself on 20 different podcast shows.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 22:33

Whatever it is, the thing is is stay clear, plan ahead, and whether you like to track how many people you reach out to for the week or you like to do it day by day, whatever it is, keep track, plan ahead and stay focused and organized. Then number three is stay flexible. Right, like we have these intentions set, we're focused, but while having a plan is super important, it's also crucial to remain flexible. You want to create room to adapt to unexpected changes and find ways to stay on track, because having children and having a business who has employees who often feel like your big children right, the thing is that this is consistently changing, no matter how much you try to control your schedule. So stay flexible. Give yourself lots of white space in your schedule, because if you don't, you'll be stressed out. You cannot have every single second of your life filled in on your calendar because you'll always be behind. So be really flexible. Find white space to enjoy yourself. Fit in lots of self-love and care time, lots of things that bring you joy, so that you have that inspiration to constantly create and serve your clients from this place of the greatest good for all. So, while managing a small business and growing it, while also raising a family is no easy feat. The right time-saving tips and strategies, like the ones that we've shared with you today, the right time-saving tips and strategies, like the ones that we've shared with you today, you can achieve you know, with them, in effect, you can achieve a healthy work-life harmony. So I encourage you to download the two guides that we talked about and reach out for help, if that's what you need.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 24:37

Now, my friend, I hope you enjoyed this episode. You need Now, my friend. I hope you enjoyed this episode. Please share this episode with your business owner mamas, your mompreneurs, your business owner friends who are also moms, even just your moms that are so busy in maybe in their corporate business, that you know they are leading a team. So share this episode and give us a review wherever you are tuning in, and if you want to dive even deeper with us, please join us inside our free Facebook group.

Tracey Watts Cirino: 25:11

That is all about. It's called Beyond Common Women in Business Supportive Community. We would love to see you there, and this is a community where we share ideas. We strongly encourage and support each other, and we would love to see you there. Now, for those of you that love to watch your podcast, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Go, join us there on YouTube and spread the word. As always, we hope you have the most beyond amazing day and I cannot wait to see how much better your business improves when you apply these strategic tips and strategies. Take care, and I'll see you on the next one.