5 Keys to Having Fun While Getting a Lot Done This Summer

There’s nothing wrong with creating a summer filled with rejuvenation, few commitments, and lots of hanging out.  But, it you are like me, you looked forward to some less hectic time to get caught up on projects difficult to cram into a busy school year schedule.

Moms can look to mompreneurs for the secret to finding that perfect mix of work and play this summer.

Before I took my mom biz seriously, family summers weren’t that intimidating. I experimented with dragging my laptop here and there (not necessarily recommended) and other tactics I thought necessary  in my journey from mom to mompreneur.

I wasn’t stressed about productivity because I didn’t know what I didn’t know. I didn’t understand my different business roles and the consequences of neglecting them.

But today I do. And with three active kids – ages 7, 10, and 13 – finding a summer schedule that works for me, my business, and my family could have been a daunting task.

While there were moments of uncertainty on how everything would fit, this system helped me create a plan we could live with:

1. Identify Key Business Roles

In addition to your time providing services to clients, list the various functions you must attend to keep it healthy and keep your cash flow coming in. My key areas include:  writing, business plan, marketing, leads generation, product generation.   Remember, moms at home, your domicide is much like a small business.  Operations run smoother for a lower stress, family friendly environment, when you use proven business tactics to get stuff done.

2. Identify Weekly Personal and Business Maintenance / Development Activities

Often busy people neglect  time to organize, document and improve your work and home systems, and to recharge your own batteries. Each week I aim to have at least a two-hour block of time for creating personal systems, creating work systems, and personal peak power “me” time.

3. List Family Activities and Needs

Get the schedules for the swim team, music lessons, etc.  Plus, be tuned in for needs to have downtime, hanging out with friends, playdates, and relaxing at the pool.

4. Create a Summer Calendar and Start Plugging in 1,2, and 3

I opened a new Outlook calendar so I could experiment with different scheduling scenarios. It allowed me to come up with innovative ways – like get up a little earlier — to make the schedule work. I could also see where I could solicit the kids to help, for example, with walking the dog instead of me walking her; or riding their bikes to swim team practice. The hours you devote to create a workable summer schedule pay off. Outlook has a merge feature to overlay your created summer schedule calendar with your original calendar, if you would like.

5. Weekly Update

With activities and vacations and camps bouncing in and out of the schedule take your summer calendar template and tweak it each week so you get your work, personal, and family essentials done.

Doing  a summer calendar isn’t magic, sometimes requiring difficult choices when time blocks clash. But getting everything down on paper makes sure the important personal and business tasks take place and avoid wasted time.  And time chunking — designating what tasks you will do during scheduled times — helps you not sidestep more challenging or distasteful personal and business tasks.  A refreshing summer for you,  your family, and your bottom line rewards your discipline to proactively summer schedule.

The Catholic Mompreneur Biz and Life Tip:  If you don’t have a summer calendar template, schedule two hours now to create one.

Christina M. Weber MS  Copyright 2014