Being Fully Present with Your Kids When You’re An Entrepreneur

The beauty of the digital age is you can be whatever you choose to be. The resources and connectivity make for endless possibilities. Your dream of that thing you wanted to create, the startup you wanted to begin, the book you wanted to write, etc… are but a Google search away. It’s a wonderful time to be an entrepreneur!

But as a mom and entrepreneur, juggling kids and a business is hard.

We’re constantly torn between prioritizing one over the other. And it is nerve-racking because it’s honestly very easy to get lost in the drive to succeed at what we are doing. Our business/passion can quite fully encompass us and our senses. After all, we do have a lot to prove—to our naysayers and ourselves, even. Before we know it, we get carried away with the desire to prove “we can do it.”

The chores become mundane. Even food becomes tasteless. All else fades away in the glory that is the high we get from “ticking off our short-term goals list,” especially when our business is something that we’re truly passionate about and love doing with all our being. 

When I started writing almost two years ago, it was a way out of my loneliness. Slowly but surely, blogging became a full-time obsession. I was living my lifelong dream of living in words, and the online initiative I started became my dream come true—something that the idealist in me can be proud of. And like any small business which involves setup, website, social media, marketing, and coordinating (in my case, with people around the world), I started getting overwhelmed. 

I realized in all the hoopla of my personal joy that I was in a very real danger of ignoring those most precious to me. After all, the sole reason I do all that I do is to be at home with my kids. 

Finding Real Ways To Be Present

So, I took a step back. I reassessed my desires. Did I really want to achieve targets at the cost of my morning snuggles and play time with the kids? Not at all! 

Scheduled Work Hours 

While I’m not in the 9-5, I now do have set hours in which I genuinely work. My planner is now my new best friend. Every Sunday I go through it and plan my meals, work, and even time with the kids. This helps save me time planning on the go, which let’s face it, can get tedious.

Kids know the time when mom’s working even though she’s at home. Morning and night snuggles are the best. Walks around the community after work hours are a must. Time for homework, dinner, and lunch are theirs to connect with. And even these hours are open to readjustment depending on which kid is sick/ in need at the time. 

Being Okay With Turning Off 

The digital age provides us way too many gadgets to run our businesses constantly. It’s important to be mindful of the ways we handle those distractions. 

Now, when a child comes to talk to me, I turn off whatever it is I’m doing and look at them. I really look and listen. Often, these moments are when they have something really important to say. I read somewhere, “Listen to your kids when they are young. That is when they have the most important things to say.”

Place Real Value On Your Time

Over the past few months, I’ve really come to value my own time. I understand every minute that takes me away from my kids needs to be providing value of some sort either to my business or self. Self in the terms of time with husband, good time with friends or self-improvement.

So now when I feel something is draining my time unnecessarily be it drama or unnecessary tasks, I step back and re-evaluate my own priorities. I value my time much more and that of others as well. 

No matter what else I’m doing, I want to ensure I’m present with my kids, here, now.