So you're a work at home mum... There's one factor most other business owners never have to deal with, and that is the unpredictable nature of children. And for those of us who don't necessarily have help on hand to care for them, running a business and managing a growing family is a tricky affair!
So, what can be done, to manage this juggling act...?
Default Diary.
The first thing to consider, is a default diary. What this is, is a diary that blocks out your time into categorised chunks.
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Check Emails & RSS Feeds time
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Sales Calls time
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Customer Followup Time
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Marketing time
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Planning Time
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Family Time etc etc
Block it all out into an 8 hour day, and colour code: Simple! (I do mine in a spreadsheet)
That way, when someone calls, and inevitably wants something done, you have a ROUGH idea of when you'll be able to achieve it.
Day to Day Diary
Your regular day planner, where your appointments, phone numbers and notes are kept. Do yourself a favour, get a good sturdy one. If your diary is anything like mine, it's going to be bashed around, and lugged everywhere. Bonus points if you get a ring binder style diary, that allows you to file note, and have niftly little plastic pockets for business cards and dockets!
Sticky Notes
Are my saving grace. I stick them on the door frame, so they're the last thing I see as I walk out of the house. The amount of times I would have forgotten something important, but didn't with the notes, has paid for them over and over again.
Time planning software
Toodledo.com
is an easy to use, web-based to-do list. Keeping track of all your tasks will help you avoid disorganization, stay motivated and be more productive. Check it out.
Accept that you can't always do it
At the end of the day, your children come first- that's why you got into the business in the first place. Noone's perfect, just communicate well with your customers and suppliers.