Balancing Both Ep. 7: What happens when you make “to do list zero” your top priority as a biz mom? (It’s not pretty!)

2 more things just hopped onto your to-do list – which means your lunch break today is now 12 minutes shorter. 

But wait - that “to-do list elasticity” is actually the gremlin of all your “ease and flow” work hours.

So stop putting up with “never done till 9pm” homework, and start doing THIS instead

‘Cause you’ll never change if you never try something different.

You’ve got this!

Alyssa

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

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Transcript

This is the Unbusy Mom, and today we’re talking about what happens when you make “to do list zero” your top priority - ‘cause it’s not pretty!

2 more things just hopped onto your to-do list – which means your lunch break today is now 12 minutes shorter. 

Is this how you’ve been operating in your business?

If so, I know EXACTLY why you’re so tapped out despite not subscribing to the #hustlegrind – it’s because of this “to-do list elasticity” that we’ve always been told is a good thing, when it’s actually the gremlin of all your “ease and flow” hours.

And in case you’re wondering, “elastic” to-do lists look like….

• Daily housework that ALWAYS bleeds into your next work time block
• One-off operations questions from team that never fit into your Slack check-in slot
• Kid homework help that bumps into (then over) bath time
• “Need to get to” projects you perpetually snooze to this Saturday’s to-do list (even if you have no intention of starting on the pre-Christmas KonMari this weekend)
• Always having one more thing to clean up in the kitchen before you can kick back on the couch with your husband (because your 10-year-old forgot to wipe the table down, AGAIN)

Whereas MY way, the “lighten your load no excuses” way, is more like….

• Getting accurate (NOT optimistic) about how much time laundry takes for your family of boys (or empowering THEM to do it all for you!)
• Setting realistic boundaries for team check-ins on Slack (either you need more team time allocated in your CEO calendar, or your OBM needs more training on what to pre-handle for you!)
• Telling your kids that homework office hour stops at 7pm when it’s time to start the bedtime routines – and if you didn’t get all of it done, maybe you need to start earlier in the afternoon instead of leaving it all for mommy
• Popping the “pre-Christmas toy KonMari” on a set weekend each year – or waiting till you feel like it to do it at all
• Adding “no tech time tomorrow” consequences for your 10-year-old chore shirker who’s hoping you’ll overlook the crumb-filled place mats and do it for her (again)

You see, there’s no reason to put yourself on the hook for ALL the housework, inbox-work, or client work.

You’ve just got to sort out which tasks can safely be delegated to your kids (no sharp knives for kindergarteners), have a steel-barrier-level boundary on urgent inbox queries each Friday (leave the rest for when you come back Monday), and train your team on a few more of your weekly headaches.

Poof, done – your hustle KonMari is complete, never to be seen again! (Because it most definitely doesn’t spark joy to be at the mercy of your client Voxers or Slack notifications.)

Oh, and if you have to – schedule something FUN in your day for that lunch break (or evening kick back time) so you don’t gravitate back to your old, familiar to-do list – PLAN your hobbies in as if they’re important appointments with clients!

(That’s what I do to trick my brain, ‘cause I figured out early on that if I have nothing to do, I’ll just head off to my laptop to do more work!)

So now I put a reminder to order myself more library books each week so I don’t say “I’m bored” and get back on the hustle bus. Pro trick for goal-oriented women who hate sitting still.

But let’s switch back to you – what’s your top “out of time bounds” task each day? (Or week, if that’s easier to uncover?) 

What’s the one that’s always overflowing its time boundaries, to you (and your kids’) frustration?

That’s the one I want you to box in (with steel barriers) today.

Stop putting up with “never done till 9pm” homework, and start putting IN what you actually WANT your schedule to look like – and then stick to it.

‘Cause you’ll never change if you never do something different.

Get realistic, get angry, and get going. You’ve got this!