Hey guys! Welcome back to the podcast. If you’re a brand new listener, just know how thankful I am for you. I hope you'll stick around and even go back and listen to some of the past episodes. There's some really good stuff in here if I do say so myself.

If you're a mom and you are running a photography business this is an episode that you do not want to skip through quickly. You are going to want to rewind and listen to this thing over and over again. This is one that you will want to save.

Now that doesn't mean it won't be useful for everyone else. It absolutely will be, but I am going to be mainly talking to the mamas who are holding down the fort and raising kiddos at the same time. It's a challenging combination.

You're the one that they run to when a toy breaks. You're the one that they call when they forgot their lunch. You're the one that gets up in the middle of the night when he had a bad dream or she needs to cry on your shoulder because there is a whole lot of teenage girl drama going on at school.

And yet you still need to show up alert and professional for your clients day in and day out. Managing a household, taking care of the kids and running a business is tough. I know. I've done it for 18 years now.

There are days when I want to throw my hands up in the air. There are days when it feels like there will never be enough time to get it all done. But let me tell you, it’s possible. There are some tricks and some time saving hacks that will allow you to be both a good mom and a good business owner.

So on the days when it feels impossible give yourself a little bit of grace and remind yourself that tomorrow is a new day. I'm not going to leave it there though. Let's get into some tangible things that you can do to compress time, to get more done in a day so that you can be that amazing mom you want to be and run the Kick-Ass business that you want to run.

Get it all out of your head.

Our heads are just swarming with ideas and to-do list constantly. The best thing you can do is to get it all down on paper. our brains are not meant to be storage devices. They are meant to process information. so when you feel overwhelmed your head is probably just too full. And we all know what happens when we are overwhelmed. you're going to either ignore the list altogether, you're going to attack it with a vengeance and wear yourself out, or you are going to shut down. That is the classic fight, flight or freeze. Your brain will go into survival mode to protect you from all this danger.

So, when you feel like this, grab a piece of paper, not if you are driving, and write down every task that you can think of. I actually do this every morning and every afternoon. It helps me to get organized for the day and it helps me to rest better at night when I have kind of emptied my brain and allowed myself to unplug.

If this is the only thing you do you will buy your time back with this activity. stress and overwhelm or going to slow you down tremendously so let's try to avoid it. This little activity will help you with that.

Prioritize your list

Now that you have everything written down, it's time to prioritize everything. What are the most important things that you have to get done that day? If everything else fell apart, what would make you feel the most accomplished? Those are the top things you need to be doing that day.

I would also ask yourself this: which task am I procrastinating on? Those are usually the tasks that need to be at the top of your list. Those are sometimes the tasks that are going to move the needle forward in your business the most and have the biggest impact.

This activity is going to keep you focused, and it's going to keep you from doing those time-wasting, non-essential activities that we all like to do to keep us busy. Busy makes us feel like we're doing something important but busy rarely makes a difference.

Create a plan for the day and follow through.

Okay I know you aren't going to want to hear this but I'm going to say it anyway.

Eliminate the distractions

If at all possible, create a quiet workspace for yourself. I know this is difficult with kids, believe me. I’ve been there. If you can't create a quiet space for yourself, create opportunities for your kids to have some quiet time by themselves. Yes, I know that all kids are different and some are a little bit more difficult than others when it comes to this.

But it is important for your kiddos to see Mom working and making a difference for your family. There should be no Mom guilt when it comes to working. I don't know many dads that feel guilty over working and spending time away from their kiddos in order to do that.

I think the problem comes in when you are trying to work and be mom at the same time. When you can separate those two roles and give undivided attention to your kids and then undivided attention to your clients that mom guilt will go away. That client guilt will go away. Why? Because you are being fully present with both.

What other kinds of distractions do you have? I bet you have one in your hand right now. That phone is meant to be a tool, and sometimes it’s more like a heavy weight that you can’t put down.

Every time those notifications go off, it sucks time out of your day. If you want to get more done, if you want to compress time, if you want to maximize your energy, turn off the notifications.

The only notifications I have on my phone are messaging apps for my family and my team. No email, no social media. I will get to those when I decide to get to those. Otherwise they will control your day and you will have no idea where your time went and why you are so exhausted at the end of the day.

I'm going to throw one more in here for distractions that is probably going to ruffle some feathers. Did you know that you don't have to jump to your computer or to your phone every time there's an image call in a photography Facebook group?

If you can tell me how that is doing your business some good, if you can prove to me that that is not a time suck, then go for it. But please don't tell me that you don't have time in your day to market your business when you do have time to post your beautiful images in a Facebook group.

See, I told you I was going to ruffle some feathers. Why do I do that? Because I love you guys and I want you to be successful - in life and in business. So I'm going to tell you the truth, even when you might not like it.

How else can you maximize time in your day?

Take advantage of technology

There are so many tools out there for us that will automate processes and save you so much time. There are tools for culling images, tools for renaming images, presets in Lightroom to help with editing, calendar scheduling tools, social media planning tools, the list goes on and on and on.

If it is a tool that will save you time and you will actually use it, I say go for it. You can always make more money. You cannot make more time. And if you can make more in that amount of time than it takes to get the task done by a software or a computer, then it's a no brainer. That technology, that tool is an investment in your business. It's a part-time employee. Use what we have available, even if it is a small monthly expense, to take back your time and energy. You should not be doing every single little bitty thing yourself. The time you spend on doing meaningless tasks can be spent marketing your business instead or spending that time with your family. The minutes add up y’all.

Get your systems in place

Getting your systems built will create so much time and space for you. It shouldn't take multiple days to schedule a client meeting or to answer a simple question. You should know exactly where each client is in their journey with you with the click of a button. You should have automated emails & reminders set up. You should know what you are posting to social media this week.

All of that will weigh down on you if you are doing each of those tasks manually one at a time. When you have that well-oiled machine running, you get to do more fun stuff!

Delegate and outsource

You knew it was coming. Didn’t you? A great way to compress and maximize both time and energy is to get someone else to do the things you don’t want to do! Sounds easy, right? I know it’s not. It’s not easy to hand over parts of your business or even parts of your home. Actually, it’s not hard at all to hand over the cleaning. I gladly hired that out! And it’s some of the best money I could spend month after month.

Not wanting to delegate and outsource comes up for 1 reason. Trust.

You don’t trust that someone else can do it like you can. And you don’t trust yourself enough to make the money back that you will invest into someone else. And you don’t trust that your clients will pay your increased prices to cover that added expense.

The excuse I hear all the time is that “it’s too expensive”. That’s not the real reason.

Another one is “I don’t have time to train someone”. Well, of course you don’t. You’re too busy doing all the things. Slow down, pause. The business will be there when you come back. Nothing changes when nothing changes. You have to stop long enough to train someone. You will get that time back tenfold when they start doing a good job & you step away from the things that don’t make you any money in your business.

Multitask

Did I just say that? Yep, I did. But I just said to eliminate distractions, stay focused. Hear me out. They're actually are some things that you can multitask. You do it all the time and probably don't even realize that you're doing it. So if you say you don't have time to read a book, learn something new, take a course, engage on social media, I'm going to show you that you actually do have the time.

Now I wouldn't be answering emails while on a coaching call or posting to social media while trying to process orders, but there are some things you can do at the same time. How about listening to a podcast while you're driving? You might even be doing that right now. How about putting in your airpods and listening to a course module while you're cooking dinner? How about listening to an audiobook while you fold laundry? How about social media engagement while you're on the treadmill? Some of us are a little clumsier than others so that one can be tricky. The point is that you can find moments in your day where tasks can overlap to maximize your time. Get creative & see what you can come up with.

Take care of yourself

I saved this one for last because it is probably the most important one. but the best way to maximize your time and energy as a mom and a business owner is to take care of yourself first. and I know that is difficult to do. Everyone else always seems to come first. That's just the way we are built. We are the nurturers and the caretakers, and that is a beautiful thing. But we cannot take care of our businesses and we cannot take care of our families without first taking care of ourselves.

So take your afternoon breaks without guilt. make yourself a good breakfast without the guilt. work out, go for a walk, get your nails done all without the guilt. .

Go to bed at a reasonable hour and get some good sleep. Workout. Go for a walk. Drink your water. Eat your veggies. We all know what to do. We just don’t do them. It’s time to believe you are valuable enough to stop and do those things. You are worth taking care of.

Let me know what you think & that you were listening today. If you had any aha moments, I want to know what they were. Post a screenshot & tag me in your stories. Your sharing is why I am able to do this. You getting the word out about what I do here on the podcast and in the business coaching space is how I am able to keep bringing you content week after week. My goal is always to help you & photographers just like you build more profitable, productive & purposeful businesses so that you can spend more time doing what you love with the ones you love.

Ok. Let's continue the conversation over in the Senior Studio Success Facebook Group. I’m always up for a good business chat. Or you can find me over on Instagram. Send me a DM there. Have a great week y’all!