How I make time for a business as a mom of 10 kids

Business Tips

This post may include affiliate links. See my full disclosure here.

I talk a lot about time with the moms who come to me for help because we assume that a shortage of time is our biggest problem. But deep down, I think we all know this is a fallacy!

Every single one of us has exactly 24 hours in a day- no more, no less. And yet each of us gets to decide exactly how to spend the minutes of our day. It’s a wonderful thing, but also a great reminder that we are solely responsible for how our lives turn out.

No right way

Let me say up front that there is no RIGHT way to spend our time. Most of us admire people with busy schedules because our society values accomplishments. But many of us also struggle with exhaustion, overwhelm and depression, so clearly running ourselves ragged is not the answer.

The answer to using our time well is this: does the structure of your day align with your greatest values?
Meaning, if you value relationships, cleanliness and laughter, is your day filled with those things??

I’ve learned that my priorities include a relationship with God, spending time with my kids, and building a business that puts goodness into the world. That means that I put anything that supports these values ahead of other that don’t.

A few months ago, I kept a log of my daily activities from the moment I woke up until bedtime. I’m sharing that log with you today to give you a peek into how I structure my day in order to keep my priorities in alignment.

Most importantly, I want you to notice what’s not on my schedule for this day. There’s very little (if any) cleaning, entertainment, making meals from scratch and time with friends. It’s not because I don’t enjoy or appreciate these things, it’s because I value them less than God, my family and my business. Some days I’m able to include more of these extra things, but they’re not essential for me.

It’s also important to know that I currently hire a tutor who comes almost every morning to help my kids with homeschool and a mother’s helper in the afternoons to run errands and help with laundry.

You day will look much different than this, and it should! Just make sure that it’s in alignment with the 3 values that you hold most dear.

Note: I’ve bolded the activities that directly support those 3 main values so you can better see where I fit them in.

A day in the life

6:30am- wake up & pray
get dressed in workout clothes
7- read scriptures
7:30- personal training session at gym
8:30- come home, eat breakfast and get Dean ready for preschool
9- preschool drop off
9:10- make breakfast for another child, order groceries
9:30- shower & get ready for the day
9:45- listen to business podcast & fold load of laundry
change sheets on kids bed
10- help kids with homeschool
11- get gas and preschool pickup
11:30- business lunch with a friend
1pm- take 1 child to tutoring and other kids to trampoline park
1:30- record a podcast
2:30- talk to kids, work on a puzzle
2:45- work time (business education, weekly planning, emails)
3:30- snack for me and kids, get girls off to dance and check chores
3:45- back to work (including interruptions to clean up a potty training accident and feed a cat)
5- put away grocery pickup (picked up by my helper)
5:15-7:15- take kids to Costco, buy more groceries, feed family pizza
7:15- put away groceries
7:30- pick up a child at dance
7:45- Read scriptures with big kids
8- work on puzzle
8:30- clean up and put kids to bed, read for a few minutes
9- watch show with Luke & teens
10:30- pray, get in bed, read for 20 min
11- lights out

Your turn! Open a note in your phone and keep an hourly log of one of your days this week.
I promise, it will be a very eye-opening glimpse into where your time is being spent and whether or not it’s in keeping with your big goals!

previous article
next article

1 Comment

  • Reply
    Building a Business for Single, Homeschooling and Working Moms • Bonnie and Blithe
    October 26, 2022 at 1:43 pm

    […] people know, but if you crave social time, this should definitely be a priority for you! Be sure to read this post about keeping your daily activities in alignment with your core […]

  • Leave a Reply

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.