Both single parenting and entrepreneurship are hard. In both cases, you’re often forced to do it all, and you’re the one held responsible if something doesn’t go right. Yet many single parents choose to run their own business so that they have complete control over their schedule. Here are a few tips on how to balance running a business and single parenthood. We’ll also share some advice on how to reduce your stress.
Get Organized
Double booking personal and professional events is almost as bad as forgetting one or the other. The solution is to get organized. Combine your personal and professional schedules. Then you won’t schedule a doctor’s appointment when you have a presentation scheduled, and you won’t accidentally schedule work commitments when your child has an event. Make sure to give yourself enough time to get from event to event. Create a family schedule. Then you can organize the next day’s activities the night before. Discuss your plans for the next day with your kids. Put reminders for the next day on the board or in your calendar.
Learn to Say No
When we’re used to doing it all, we often think we can do it all. Unfortunately, that’s not possible, and you don’t want to pay the cost of trying. Learn to say no. Say no to extra activities your kids want to do that cost more than you can afford or eat into family time. You don’t have to make cookies for the bake sale or organize a class party. That goes for the business side as well. Don’t feel guilty about turning down volunteering requests or overtime with a client. And don’t be afraid to reschedule meetings if you already made a promise to your children. You never want to make them feel like work is more important to you, but you also have to make them understand that that’s how mommy or daddy gets to buy them the things they want.
Take Care of Yourself
Take care of your health. Eat healthily, and stay hydrated. Prioritize time for yourself. Give yourself time to relax each night, get enough sleep, exercise and spend time with your children. Give yourself time to pay the bills and invoice clients instead of just rushing from assignment to assignment. However, getting this all done may mean saying no to time-wasters like watching TV or surfing the internet for entertainment.
Continue Reading Below
Delegate as Much as Possible
It is essential that you delegate as much as possible. This advice applies as much to your personal life as your business. One thing you should do is always make sure that you have a babysitter on call if you have last-minute meetings or have to attend a special event or conference. However, you have to make sure that you can trust them. One solution is to double-check their history online. You could use a service like Public Records Reviews to check incarceration records in addition to sexual offenses and other background checks. All you need is their name and the last state they lived in and you’ll be able to get a quick background check. You’ll be able to find past felonies, arrest records, and even mugshots.
Continue Reading Below
When it comes to hiring help, make sure that you find qualified people, and make sure that you screen them without infringing on their rights. Then, create a list of strengths, weaknesses, and skills for each person so that you can assign tasks to them that they’ll be better at than you would be. Give them clear instructions regarding what you want them to do. Create procedures and guidelines they can follow without you having to watch over them constantly. Don’t forget to give them deadlines, and tell them your priorities if they’re working on multiple tasks. This will ensure that both of you are on the same page.
Have Backup Plans
A common routine will allow you to anticipate the next day, but things can go wrong. Have backup plans so that the unexpected doesn’t become an emergency. Have friends who can pick up your child from school or childcare if you can’t make it in time. Have a plan to delegate work to your team if you can’t make it into the office, whether you are home with a sick child or your car is in the shop. Ask other single parents for recommendations for babysitters or housekeepers, and then research them. This will give you a list of backup help to call if your first choice isn’t available. It is possible to balance work with life as a single parent. However, it requires careful planning and deliberate choices on your part. Yet that will allow you to take care of everything that matters most – your health, your kids, and your livelihood.