The Unbusy Mom - take your time back strategies for business moms

Why me time after your kids get home from school isn’t working for you (when you’re also running a business).

Alyssa Wolff - Work/Life Balance Coach for Business Moms

You’ve got the hobby time reminder on the calendar every single day, for goodness’ sake – yet somehow, it never seems to happen….

While the productivity experts tell you you’ve done everything you need to and it’s not their fault why hobby time isn’t happening for you.

Rewind time….

Yes, it IS somebody’s fault that you aren’t getting to knit that cute winter beanie – because there was one more step the gurus forgot to mention to you.

You’ve got this!

Alyssa

Love your daily life as a work-at-home mom: https://yourunbusylife.com/ 

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This is the Unbusy Mom, and today we’re talking about why doing me time after your kids get home from school isn’t working for you.

You’ve got “new knitting pattern” on the calendar every day at 5pm (‘cause the kids aren’t ready for supper yet, but YOU’VE already wrapped from the work day), but somehow? 

That partial start knitting project never gets longer.

And you don’t have a clue why.

You’ve got the “take hobby time” reminder on the calendar every single day, for goodness’ sake – what else am I supposed to be doing?! I’m doing everything right, your brain says!

Except that gently mounded knitting basket is just sitting there on the side table, mocking you – while the productivity experts tell you you’ve done everything you need to and it’s not their fault why hobby time isn’t happening for you.

Rewind!

Yes, it IS somebody’s fault that you aren’t getting to knit that cute winter beanie – because there was one MORE step the gurus forgot to mention to you.

You still have to pinpoint what the barrier is every time you find yourself NOT doing a values-based goal that fits nicely into your schedule.

Because we’ve missed something about the process or you’d already be doing it.

(Now granted, it could be that you just need a teensy tweak for your new knitting-habit-forming process to work – but most times, it’s going to be that there’s ANOTHER layer to this “what’s the right time for me to do this” choosing.)

  • Maybe YOU’VE got the free time, but your kids keep asking you biology questions every 5 minutes that make you drop the needles, take the book on your lap, and flip through half the chapter before you find the right section to explain photosynthesis for them.
  • Perhaps your schedule is clear, but your creative brain is on hiatus from 5 to 8pm.
  • Or it’s that you’ve got the knitting basket way off in your closet (where it won’t be disturbed by curious fingers), but by day’s end it’s too much trouble to walk across half the house to fetch it.

You see how each of these is a separate barrier to entry, but each one prevents you from enjoying your brand new knitting hobby?

But we’d never know that UNLESS we take the time to insert the all-important “Why isn’t this working?” question in your weekly habit-tracking progress and dig for the answers.

‘Cause if you don’t, you’ll end up telling yourself that you just don’t have the time for a hobby right now, your kids take up all your “free” time, or that you don’t really like knitting after all.

When not a single one of those are true.

Case in point: I was scheduling in my podcast binges for the week, and automatically dumped them in that very same time slot – the before dinner but after business work time block – yet never got around to it.

Why? ‘Cause I didn’t want to listen to all my new episodes in a noisy living room with all the kids around! It was more about the peace and quiet than the taking in of all that lovely new information for me.

So I moved my hobby slot to after kindergarten bedtime, when the house settles down somewhat, and all is well in podcast-land again.

You see, I had the daily time to recharge with podcasts in my schedule – and I’d made it a non-negotiable that I was actually going to DO that – so working out the details was just a given. Because I’d already trained myself that I get to have “fill my own cup” time every day.

And retraining YOU in that mindset is the hidden iceberg that’s ACTUALLY going to allow you to take a solid chunk of hobby time every single day – guilt free – and STILL consider yourself a present mom.

Okay? You don’t have to pick one or the other. Not when you’re in MY program.

So what about you – do you have a “failed” habit or “should do” on your calendar, that you have a sneaking suspicion is actually really important to you?

Ask the “why isn’t this working” question of it, and start taking action on what comes up.

You’ll be surprised by how much you change.