Sneak peek: A personal story of how not to do work life balance in a business launch - aka, why I still need my own productivity principles as a work from home mom!

Don't do what I did. Yes, this is me, the productivity expert, talking.

When I was 6 weeks into starting my online business, I got a case study opportunity and used that to pressure myself to overdeliver.

You see, I didn't have a website up - at least, I had a domain name, and some badly written pages, and a bunch of horrible graphics (graphic design from scratch is one of my weak points), and I was offered a chance to get on another successful business owner's website and have my stuff featured.

It was too good to pass up.

So being the classic overachiever, I said "yes ma'am! here's when you can expect this from me" (a full month ahead of her submit-by date), and then busted my butt to turn my whole site around.

Here’s why that was a terrible idea….

You’ve got this!

Alyssa

De-stress daily life as a work-at-home mom: https://yourunbusylife.com/ 

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Transcript

This is the Unbusy Mom, and today I’m giving you a sneak peek: here’s a personal story of how not to do work life balance in a business launch - aka, why I still need my productivity principles as a work from home CEO mom!

Don't do what I did. Yes, this is me, the work/life balance expert, talking.

When I was 6 weeks into starting my business, I got a case study opportunity and used that to pressure myself to overdeliver.

You see, I didn't have a website up - at least, I had a domain name, and some badly written pages, and a bunch of *horrible* graphics (graphic design from scratch is one of my weak points), and I was offered a chance to get on *another* successful business owner's website and have *my* stuff featured.

It was too good to pass up.

Except.... I was 6 weeks into gathering #allthethings for my own business - my own branding - my own content - and I had *no clue* how to get my own end professional in time.

So being the classic overachiever, I said "yes ma'am! here's when you can expect this from me" (a full month ahead of her submit-by date), and then busted my butt to turn my whole site and startup out 6 weeks ahead of *that* one.

Dumb. I know. 

But I didn't know any better than the college "cram it all through" workload by then, since taking care of babies didn't seem to have much applicable to online business. 

So I spent 15 days straight working every hour I could (and then some) for a website launch. (A website launch! Of all launches, that's the *least* important. I know *now*.)

And the next time I did this - crammed for a work project because I couldn't calm myself down from the pressure - I did 10 days and it was *still* too much. (At least I did better that time!) 

Aka, know your limits. 

Because as a mom with young kids at home, they’re going to be way less than these single-or-DINK multi-6-figure biz owners who have 3 kinds of team.

You know this; I know this.

So make sure you set up the work/life balance you need - *right* from the get go - and *don't* let yourself get sucked into the "work work work all hours" trap. 

Believe me, I wasn't much good for an entire week after that 15-day site launch (or the 10-day one). 

You can take an extra week, or 2 weeks, or month, to get it done in a rational, logical fashion. One that won't burn you out like an almost-done candle flame the instant you're done.

You can set up the daily, weekly, and yes, monthly rest rhythms that make online business *sustainable* for you for *years* to come. 

No matter what kid phases you're in. (Potty training regression, I hear you.)

No matter what kid ages they are. (Up 5 times for the nursing infant? I hear you.)

No matter what energy (or not) you've got. (Too tired to put out your best “sparkle” on the gram? I hear you.)

Rest, work, and rest again - because that's how you're going to stay in this CEO life for the long game.

And you don’t have to work 40 hours a week in your at-home business to get there. YOU aren’t here for that – and your kids aren’t either. So lean on outsourcing, lean on ruthless calendar clearing, and keep working those time blocks till you get the schedule of your work from home dreams. That AVOIDS burnout entirely.

And you’ll STILL get to have me time for yourself each night, PLUS catch up with your husband, AND read bedtime stories to your kids. Okay? Sound good?

You've got this.