{"id":4022,"date":"2020-05-13T10:45:20","date_gmt":"2020-05-12T22:45:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.belindalansleyphotography.co.nz\/?p=4022"},"modified":"2020-05-13T10:45:20","modified_gmt":"2020-05-12T22:45:20","slug":"how-to-juggle-motherhood-and-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/belindalansleyphotography.co.nz\/2020\/05\/13\/how-to-juggle-motherhood-and-business\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Juggle Motherhood and Business?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Covid-19\u00a0lockdown in New Zealand<\/a> has been making me think lately – maybe too much. \u00a0I decided to write a blog on how to juggle motherhood and business. \u00a0This has been brewing for a while, like one of those super dark cups of tea that have been keeping me going recently. \u00a0I haven’t felt myself – probably lower in mood than usual – but it brings up how I’ve felt in the past about my business and motherhood together. \u00a0Both of these things are extremely rewarding – but can also be like hanging on to a crazy ride.<\/p>\n

Motherhood | How to juggle motherhood and business!<\/h5>\n

Motherhood is a roller coaster. \u00a0No one tells you this. \u00a0I think in the old days (I’m thinking my own childhood in the 1980s) things were a bit slower. \u00a0Don’t get me wrong, my Mum worked like a Trojan. \u00a0 \u00a0She did the cooking, cleaning, ran a whole lifestyle block and raised kids. \u00a0But she didn’t work in paid employment with a boss looking over her shoulder. \u00a0She also didn’t have a business or side hustle (as people now seem to call small businesses).<\/p>\n

She didn’t go anywhere either so there wasn’t this busy busy feeling she had overwhelming her. \u00a0Her life wasn’t easy in other ways. She didn’t have a car, or a telephone when I was a small child and was was sitting daily in the middle of this 10 acre lifestyle block with a newborn and no way out but on foot. What if I choked? \u00a0She would have had to run down the driveway to the neighbours about 500 metres away and pray they were home that day.<\/p>\n

No rush!<\/h5>\n

The downfall of this period in time was that communication wasn’t as good and you just had to tough it out on your own if you lived rurally. \u00a0However no one rushed and there was a slight juggle of a few daily and repetitive tasks – but not the horrific juggling act that goes on these days with a lot of mothers. \u00a0I can’t say its fully self inflicted either – everywhere you go are new demands on mothers. \u00a0The school wants you there all the time if you can. \u00a0There are multiple social functions and things to remember on a daily basis. \u00a0Arghhh!!!! \u00a0I often forget things – often. \u00a0There are too many things for my brain to cope with.<\/p>\n

Imagine the juggling act!<\/h5>\n

Can you imagine a current day mother juggling the following: \u00a0a photography business (imagine a camera being juggled above my head), three children skipping from hand to hand, a husband that needs feeding (see chicken legs flying up and down), a rental property (a bunch of keys), a part time job at the University (big wad of paper going up and down), the dance school (pair of shoes), a chicken and three guinea pigs (ug!), the school that needs a costume made for muffty day (sewing machine, up and down), two other schools (how did I end up with three separate schools), and finally this darn phone of mine that keeps pinging me! \u00a0The chicken has now died (poor Freckle) and I quit the part time office job, so this helped a bit. \u00a0Just how do you juggle motherhood and business!!<\/p>\n

\"how<\/p>\n

Should I throw the phone in the rubbish? \u00a0| how to juggle motherhood and business!<\/h5>\n

I could choose to throw the phone in the rubbish, but that is where the calls and emails come for my business. \u00a0My business has a load of juggling in itself – I’m the accountant doing the tax, I’m the marketing guru (or not), I’m the social media expert, the stylist, the hairdresser (curling a little girls scraggly hair), the dressmaker for costumes, and don’t forget I take some photos somewhere in there.<\/p>\n

I’m not complaining, I LOVE, my business.<\/h5>\n

What I’m trying to talk about is how to juggle motherhood and business. \u00a0Can it be done?<\/p>\n

Of course it can!<\/h5>\n

However you have to be prepared for a lot of tears and mess in the early days and even later on. \u00a0You have to be prepared for not being able to cope a lot of the time. \u00a0Chuck in a “mild mental illness” now and again triggered by the chaos. \u00a0Throw in a child not being able to read who reduces your business to nothing for six months because you have to sacrifice moving the business forward temporarily for his sake. \u00a0It seems that you can have a business, but you take two steps forward and one step back constantly. \u00a0This is MY experience.<\/p>\n

Feeding young minds<\/h5>\n

Others will have a totally different experience. \u00a0My kids are pretty easy kids really, but they have very inquiring minds and I don’t want to neglect those minds. \u00a0I feed these minds constantly with new and exciting stuff, because that’s the way my own brain is wired and that’s what I feel I have to do, constantly. It feels right to me and these times have been some of the best of my life. \u00a0Plus these times won’t last forever and my kids will be gone and I’ll have oodles of time, but none of those early days will come back.<\/p>\n

\"how<\/p>\n

An Adventurous son!<\/h5>\n

My son is into biking and fossils, so we go on hours of fossil hunting trips and bike rides. \u00a0I love it too. \u00a0But it doesn’t feed my business, it feeds my child’s mind and emotions. \u00a0This is my choice. \u00a0These are the times I wonder how to juggle motherhood and business. \u00a0This wonderful child of mine needs his mother. \u00a0Whenever I’ve neglected him, even just for a short time, he starts saying he is dumb and stupid. \u00a0Whenever I take him out on adventures, he gets his confidence back.<\/p>\n

I CAN not and WILL not sacrifice my child’s wellbeing for a business at this stage. \u00a0So my business ticks along in the background and sometimes makes leaps forwards and then sometimes steps back again when it has to. \u00a0My main problem is remembering why my business is a slow burning beast – that the children always come first in my world and the business second.<\/p>\n

A rollercoaster ride | how to juggle motherhood and business<\/h5>\n

Business is also a roller coaster on top of motherhood. \u00a0I don’t really like rollercoasters, they hurt my head and make me nearly pass out and I have a photo to prove. \u00a0One time I went down the most giant rollercoaster at Six Flags Magic Mountain near LA and it was not pleasant.<\/p>\n

Two rollercoasters<\/h5>\n

For some reason I’ve taken on two roller coasters in my life. \u00a0Why you ask? \u00a0Because it’s darn scary and I love to be scared, by jumping out of a plane or rock climbing or things like having a business and motherhood. \u00a0The gains you get in your life and the insights you have from these things are totally AMAZING! \u00a0I have learnt what I’m good at and what I’m not good at. \u00a0Then I choose to either upskill or accept that’s the way it is. \u00a0If I’d stayed fulltime in an office job with no children or business, I would have died inside. \u00a0Sometimes it’s better to choose to live and be daring!<\/p>\n

Business isn’t always easy!<\/h5>\n

My own mind is often distracted by shiny things. \u00a0My business coach picked this up straight away. \u00a0A new shiny prop. \u00a0A new method of marketing or business that just might work. \u00a0When I try it and it fails, then I blame myself and give up for a while, up and down, up and down like a very fast and crazy rollercoaster. \u00a0But then I get a zest for my business again. \u00a0Often it will be a random booking by some random person that fires me up again. \u00a0Maybe it is the Iris awards – I win something, and think I’m the best photographer in town for a while.<\/p>\n

I keep telling myself I need to keep my emotions on an even keel. \u00a0I’ve managed it in some areas now. \u00a0I finally realise how things work, in a more scientific manner. \u00a0There is a formula and you have to follow it. \u00a0But other parts of the business are very fluid and constantly changing and can foil even the most business savvy person.<\/p>\n

Marketing. \u00a0I bomb a LOT!<\/h5>\n

I’ve learnt over the years that it’s just because I don’t have my brand built in a solid way where other’s do have a solid brand. \u00a0I could do the exact same marketing as a friend of mine and their marketing works and mine doesn’t, but it’s because they’ve built a brand and have a massive following. \u00a0I don’t yet. \u00a0I’m working on it but it’s only been a year really that I’ve had a strong style and message coming through – all thanks to my business coach. \u00a0And it’s only been about a month of constant posting on social media after learning a new trick last month. \u00a0When I talk of how to juggle motherhood and business it all stems around having the headspace and time to learn new things.<\/p>\n

Thanks to my business coach, I’m now all about art work on walls and making your house amazing with creative and original portraiture. \u00a0Before that, I was just about taking some nice photos. \u00a0This new and improved message on my website has attracted one or two amazing clients who get what I do and I’ve LOVED these people. \u00a0They may not realise just how much they’ve made me happy! \u00a0I just need ten more of these people per year and I’ll be humming!<\/p>\n

My final point<\/h5>\n

My final quip is that one day all my input into my wonderful children might help them to support their parents in old age. \u00a0Maybe they will actually come and visit me and give me a hug. \u00a0Maybe we will still walk on the beach and find fossils. \u00a0Then I will know it’s been totally worth it to not push my business to the max right now.<\/p>\n

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Anyway my top tips for how to juggle motherhood and business are:<\/h4>\n