Top Summer Tips for Work at Home Moms

Summer Advice From Top Female Entrepreneurs!

Summer is a bittersweet time for most work at home moms. We get to see our little cherubs all day long. All. day. long. We are also trying to concentrate, focus, and work. The deadlines, bills (!), and appointments do not magically go away in the summer. How do we find the energy to spend quality time with our kids, while keeping the passion alive in our business?

We asked some of the top women entrepreneurs and mom bosses to share their favorite summer survival tips, schedules, and tech tools that keep their biz and household running over the summer months. These are worth the read all the way to the end! There are some fantastic ideas and definitely some new tech tools to check out.

• Robin Walker of Women’s Business Workshop

• WomensBusinessWorkshop.com
• Summer Scheduling: I have a daily outline for each day. My kids have responsibilities that need to be taken care of before they can make plans or play with friends. They know when I will be working so they need to plan around those office hours. We also rotate the chore list. One list is always the same and then they have to chose one item off the ‘whole house cleaning list’. It holds them accountable but also keeps the house in (somewhat) order.
• Favorite Tech Tool: I love using the native scheduler in facebook. It allows me to plan ahead for social media posts and fb loves when you use their tools (so it will get more engagement).

• Carrie Sharpe of He Says, She Says

• https://www.ryancarriesharpe.com
• Summer Hack: I work early morning hours during the summer months so I can get a lot done before the kids are even awake. Social media is crucial to my communications business, so it is especially important for me to schedule my social media posts in advance. That way I can spend more time with my kids during the day and less time behind a screen.
• Favorite Tech Tool: I use the Buffer app to schedule all my social media posts in advance. I can load posts into my Buffer and have several days covered. I love Buffer!

• Dana Malstaff of Boss Moms

• Boss-mom.com
• Summer Scheduling: The best thing I can do is to be super present with them in the morning, and then when it is time, to set them up with an activity, or show, and let them know mom needs to work. It’s not fool proof, but I agree with my podcast co-host NJ that it’s important to show them the distinction between play time and work time.
• Summer Tech Tool: Trello is usually my tool of choice. We plan our vacations, parties, meals, and cleaning there.

• Alexa Bigwarfe

• http://losethecape.com & http://writepublishsell.co
• My daily schedule: I get up early and go for a walk, which gets my creative juices flowing. I will work until they get up, fix them breakfast, and let them watch tv for about an hour. After that, we get outside, do something fun, go someplace, whatever. When it gets hot in the afternoon, they either have reading or movie time… and I’ll work during those times. I also have hired a part time nanny so that a few days a week I can work for 3-4 hours with no interruption.

• Julienne DesJardins

• www.juliennedesjardins.com
• Favorite Tech Tool: I couldn’t live without Insightly. It’s a free CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tool and the task list feature saves me. Every day.

• Jamie Van Cuyk of JamieVC

• jamievc.com
• Summer Schedule:  I typically set a timer. The timer is helpful because it keeps me honest. I am not stopping play earlier than I should, and I am not getting so lost in playtime that I forget to go back to work. While playing all day with my kids would be great, I must make work a priority. My kids want to be a part of my day, and by giving them small bits of time when they ask, it expresses to them that they are both important and a part of my day! As a result, they spend more time doing independent play.
• Favorite Tech Tool: We love our Amazon Echo to set timers. My kids can hear me set the times, set it themselves, check how much time is left, and hear when time is up.

• Tori Tait of Thoughtfully Simple

• www.thoughtfullysimple.com
• How to find quiet: We have a busy neighborhood filled with kids, so when I am on a call or need quite time, I put a “Please Don’t Knock” sign on our front door!
• Summer Tech Tool: Headphones! They help me tune out the cartoons and background noise from my older kiddos.

• Nicole Almanzor of Theit

• www.lovetheit.com/
• Favorite Tech Tool: My top ‘can’t live without’ app is called IFTTT. It helps me streamline my tasks, social media, and daily everyday things. You can automatically program a lot of your everyday programs/apps by using a few of their ‘recipes’, like Instagram post to your blog, update your calendar,  and sync directly to your dropbox. You name it, they can integrate it!

• Samantha McDonald of Living With Real Joy

• http://livingwithrealjoy.com/
• Summer Scheduling: My 3 kids and I sit down together and create a daily/weekly flexible schedule. This helps my kids know what to expect each day (chores, rest time, read time, electronic time) and also lets them know I still have a work schedule even though they are home with me.
• Favorite Tech Tool: I love Google Drive. Sometimes I work from my husband’s office or from my personal laptop at home. Either way I always have access to my schedules, content planners, and planning spreadsheets. It’s great!

• Jenni Schubring, Life Coach

• JenniSchubring.com
• Summer Tech Tool: My local grocery delivery service is my new favorite. I can order my groceries and have them shipped that day to my house. It saves time and I know I am avoiding impulse purchase at the store.

What helps your day run smoothly? Do you have systems or activities that help you find time to work?

Post a comment here or join us in our facebook discussion!