How to Be a Full-time Mom and Entrepreneur, and Not Go Crazy

Being a full-time mom is a 24-hour job. Then add entrepreneurship which is at least a 12-hour job. How can you do it all?

When I look back on my first year of being a mom, I think I was truly crazy. My partner and I decided to take over the 30-year old family daycare business when our daughter was only four months old. Overnight I suddenly went from being responsible for one child to 75 children — yikes!

While my partner pulled 12 hour days renovating the entire daycare and a new home for us, I took over the management, operations and admin. All of this whilst carrying a baby on my hip.

Now to be fair, this would have been a truly impossible task if it wasn’t for the help of three grandmas. And yet, I was still with my daughter 95% of the time while trying to take on a business in an industry I was new to. I should add that I also exclusively breastfed my child until she was 2.5 years old. If you’re a mom, you know exactly what kind of demand on your body and time that means.

How I did it

So how did I manage being a full-time mom and entrepreneur without ripping my hair out?

01 — Resilience

I think too many of us doubt how resilient we are. If you’re put in a situation with many demands and too little time, chances are you’ll find your way through. It won’t be perfect, but you will get somewhere. If nothing else, you’ll learn something along the way.

I now see how resilient I was in those early days. This wasn’t a conscious decision to be resilient. It just kind of happened. I think the important part is remembering to recognize your resilience. And celebrate it too!

02 — Sheer Willpower

There were days when I was tired and grumpy and out of my mind. Taking on monumental tasks does require a healthy dose of sheer willpower at times. The reality of being a new mother is that you can’t ignore what needs to happen to care for your child. Although there is a tiny bit of flexibility to postpone things as an entrepreneur, it can feel the same way too.

Sheer willpower is what will get you through. I always had a mantra on those particularly tough days: Tomorrow will be better. The truth is, it almost always was better the next day.

03 — Tons of Support

I’m certain this is obvious. Take all the help you can get! One thing that was hard for me was asking for help. If help was offered, I would take it hands down. But the reality is that you will probably never have enough help as a new mother.

I really had to push myself out of my comfort zone to ask for help above what I normally would. It was humbling to see how many people were ready and willing. It was also an eye-opener to see just how many people weren’t in a place to help me. Obviously you can tell which group I would go back to for support.

04 — Staying Focused

One of the beauties of having very little spare time is that you have to stay focused. There is just no other option. I had to filter through the clutter in my life.

I found out in very short order who I wanted to surround myself with and where I wanted to spend my time. Although it was a stressful and hectic time, I was probably the most productive I’ve ever been in my life.

05 — Making Time

There were many days when I would severely miss the time in my life when I could be free. Free to be lazy and binge-watch Netflix all weekend. Free to sleep in. Free to make spontaneous plans.

There was a certain reality to my life caring for a child and running a business. It was obvious that if there was something I needed or wanted to do, I had to make time for it.

Now, with all that said, being a full-time mom and entrepreneur was and still is really freaking hard. It’s a little better now that my daughter is almost three years old and much more independent. But I still have many days of doubts, stress and overall exhaustion.

One thing I know is that your body and mind will find a way to calibrate and adjust. Being almost three years into juggling two of the hardest jobs in the world has shown me that. There is a light at the end of the tunnel.

With love, Megan

Originally published at https://yourmoderncoach.com on December 4, 2021.