When you are doing your best working from home and being a mum, you are always interchanging between and days can feel like a haze of trying to work out what to do first and stopping overwhelm from seeping in.

We grit our teeth and never take our eyes off the prize and keep going.

It’s damn hard work. We fall, get back up, fall again, feel like shit mums and fight over time and balance with our husbands, feel pulled in 101 different directions and sacrifice god knows how many things.

So, the crystal ball question is how can you do both successfully, without wanting to throw your child or the laptop out the window?

If the crystal ball was to give an answer, I imagine it would say if it’s what you wake up thinking about, can’t wait to get started working on during the day and go to bed dreaming about, you have the endurance to make it to your goal like all mums, I bet it’s happy kids and a successful business.

Here are Some Things That May Work

• Celebrate the little things in life, take a moment to stop and truly listen to your child giggling. Notice the wind swaying the trees gently, appreciate the blue sky. For all of the uneasy or uncomfortable feelings, think of them as blessings with a silver lining. Be in awe of the natural beauty that surrounds us and forever grateful for each minute you live and what the world gives us.
• In the morning rush with the kids, step outside with a tea and take five minutes while the kids are eating their breakfast to take a deep breath and visualise how you would like your day to fold out.
• Force yourself to take self-care time, it’s not selfish – you aren’t a bad mum! It’s important and sometimes the best ideas come when you put your laptop into ‘time out’.
• Constantly be searching for a better way to do things, streamline your systems and be brutal with where you spend your time.
  Surround yourself with like-minded people that truly celebrate your successes without hindering judgement. If their reaction makes you feel uneasy maybe there is something more at play. Listen to your gut.
• Do whatever you can at all costs to get good quality sleep, even if it means ‘breaking’ so-called parenting rules.
• Don’t be hard on yourself if it doesn’t happen. Emotion can lead to over-indulging in the offending behaviour. When you stuff up or something doesn’t go to plan forgive yourself immediately and move on.
• Give up on perfection. When perfection is the bar you set, your time can be spent lamenting over details that don’t really matter. It’s a dance between good enough and maximising the time you have in the day to get things done. Which as mums, there is usually never enough so portion it smartly.

There’s always something to learn or things that need to get done. Successful people embrace this. Having a time surplus is a good indicator that your challenge is either too small or you’re not thinking big enough.