Top 5 Tips for Embracing New Routines as a Mompreneur
If there’s one thing I’ve learned in juggling the roles of running a business and raising a family, it’s that every single day can feel like a mix of magic and mayhem. One moment, you’re closing an exciting new deal or brainstorming your next big campaign idea; the next, you’re wiping sticky hands and chasing a toddler who’s decided crayons look better on the walls than on paper. As a mompreneur, finding routines that truly fit your life can seem like an elusive unicorn. But take heart—it’s absolutely possible to create a rhythm that supports both your professional ambitions and your family’s unique needs.
In this blog, I’m sharing my top five tips for embracing new routines as a mompreneur. These tips come from years of trial and error, countless late nights, and, of course, a whole lot of love for both my business and my kids. By the end, my hope is that you’ll see routines not as restrictive schedules but as supportive frameworks that keep you and your family thriving.
1. Prioritize Ruthlessly: Know What Truly Matters
Why This Matters
Every mompreneur has a to-do list that seems to stretch to the moon and back. New marketing plans, social media posts, meetings with clients, product launches—plus the never-ending laundry cycle and dinner preps! It can be hard to figure out which tasks actually move the needle in our businesses and our families. That’s where ruthless prioritization comes in.
Actionable Advice: The “Non-Negotiables” List
Weekly Non-Negotiables: Start by listing what absolutely must happen each week for your business and your family. For instance, from a professional standpoint, you might identify client calls, revenue-driving actions (like sending invoices or following up on leads), and essential marketing activities. On the personal side, prioritize tasks like your children’s school events, doctor’s appointments, or that special family dinner you want to cook on Sunday.
Top Three Tasks: Each day, narrow down your professional tasks to three must-dos—no more. The same principle applies to your personal or family tasks. This “Top Three” rule ensures that even if the rest of the day goes off the rails, you’ve accomplished the most important things.
Use a Planner or App: It’s one thing to write tasks on sticky notes, but another to actually block off time in your calendar or planner. Use digital tools like Google Calendar or Trello to schedule these tasks, and be very intentional about ensuring they happen.
Real-Life Example
Solo Mom of a Toddler: You might decide your top three tasks for Monday are to finalize a client proposal, respond to urgent client emails, and prepare a simple homemade dinner. If the toddler’s nap ends early and chaos ensues, you’ll still have accomplished your major priorities.
Addressing Common Challenges
Mom Guilt: By focusing on non-negotiables, you affirm that quality over quantity matters. Completing your top tasks daily helps you see tangible progress in both business and family life, easing the guilt of not doing everything.
Unexpected Interruptions: Building in a bit of buffer time around your top tasks can help. For instance, if you plan a task for 30 minutes, give yourself an extra 10 to 15 minutes as a “cushion” in case your child needs immediate attention.
2. Embrace Time Blocking: Schedule with Intention
Why This Matters
Time blocking is like drawing borders around your day. Instead of letting tasks bleed into each other and feeling constantly frazzled, you assign specific “blocks” of time to certain activities. As a mompreneur, these blocks can help you shift gears more smoothly between the role of CEO and mom.
Actionable Advice: Chunk Your Day
Identify Key Blocks: Split your day into work time, family time, and personal recharge time. For instance, if your kids are in school or daycare from 9 am to 2 pm, that could be a prime window for your focused work.
Use Alarms or Calendar Reminders: Setting an alarm to signal the end of a block forces you to wrap up tasks. It also reminds you to shift into a different mode (e.g., “businesswoman” to “mommy”).
Fully Unplug: When you’re in family time, try to be 100% present. Put the phone away, close the laptop, and embrace the moments with your kids. This can drastically reduce that nagging sense of guilt and make the transition back to work smoother.
Real-Life Example
Mom with School-Age Kids: You could reserve 9 am to 3 pm for deep work tasks—client calls, writing proposals, or product development. From 3 pm to 8 pm, you focus on family routines like homework help, cooking dinner, and reading bedtime stories. After 8 pm, if you’re not too exhausted, you might spend another hour catching up on emails or planning your next day.
Addressing Common Challenges
Mom Guilt: By creating a dedicated family block, you’ll give your kids undivided attention, which often eases the guilt about not being there “enough.”
Unexpected Interruptions: If an urgent matter arises, don’t hesitate to shift tasks around. Time blocking doesn’t mean your schedule is set in stone; it’s a guide, not a cage.
3. Build a Reliable Support System
Why This Matters
The “I can do it all” mindset is a one-way ticket to burnout. As a mompreneur, delegating tasks and seeking support isn’t just helpful—it’s often essential. Whether it’s outsourcing grocery shopping, hiring a virtual assistant, or relying on family for childcare, having support systems in place gives you room to breathe and thrive.
Actionable Advice: Know When (and What) to Delegate
Outsource Admin Tasks: Virtual assistants can handle a variety of tasks, from managing your email to scheduling social media posts. This frees you to focus on the revenue-generating activities in your business.
Leverage Family and Friends: If you have a co-parent, consider dividing the tasks more evenly, such as swapping out bedtime routines so you can get a bit more work done on certain evenings. If you’re a single mom, don’t be afraid to ask grandparents, aunts, or close friends for help—maybe someone can pick your child up from school once a week.
Professional and Emotional Support: Join a mompreneur community, whether locally or online. Having a space to share struggles and wins can make you feel less alone and spark creative problem-solving.
Real-Life Example
Mom of Three, with a Partner: You might hire a virtual assistant for 10 hours a week to handle data entry and customer service emails. Meanwhile, your partner could manage bedtime twice a week, giving you an uninterrupted two-hour block for strategic planning or client calls.
Single Mom of a Preschooler: You could use Care.com to find a reliable babysitter for two afternoons each week, ensuring you have consistent time for conference calls or project work.
Addressing Common Challenges
Unexpected Interruptions: A reliable support system acts like a safety net. If your child wakes up with a fever on the day you have an important meeting, knowing you can reach out to a family member or a trusted sitter reduces stress.
Mom Guilt: Remind yourself that seeking help is an investment in your well-being and your family’s future. Delegation can actually allow you to be more present and patient when you’re with your kids.
4. Design a Kid-Friendly Workspace
Why This Matters
Remote work and home-based businesses are more prevalent than ever. But as any mom knows, the biggest challenge isn’t just setting up a desk—it’s setting up a workspace that accommodates busy little hands. A kid-friendly workspace can drastically reduce distractions and help your children understand that “mommy is working” is a real boundary.
Actionable Advice: Keep Them Occupied
Stock Quiet Toys and Activities: Keep a basket or shelf nearby with puzzles, coloring books, and perhaps a few educational apps loaded onto a tablet for older kids. When you need 30 minutes of uninterrupted work, you can direct them to these activities.
Noise-Canceling Headphones: A must-have for blocking out household noises, especially if you have multiple kids playing or if you live in a bustling environment.
Clear “Working” Signals: Use a “mommy is working” hat or a special sign on the door. For younger kids, a timer can be a powerful visual: they learn that when the timer goes off, you’ll be available again.
Real-Life Example
Mom of Two Preschoolers: You might set up a mini art station next to your desk. With crayons, stickers, and paper, your children can create quietly while you respond to emails. To manage noise, you could put on soft music or let them watch an educational show with low volume.
Mom with Teenagers: A designated workspace in a shared area might work fine, since older kids can respect boundaries. However, keep healthy snacks readily available to reduce the “Mom, I’m hungry!” interruptions.
Addressing Common Challenges
Unexpected Interruptions: If your toddler wanders in mid-video call, don’t panic. Communicate calmly that you’ll attend to them in a moment. After the call, give them your full attention for a few minutes—this reassures them they’re not being ignored.
Mom Guilt: Designing a space that allows your kids to be near you can help you feel present, even when you’re working. You’re still available for a quick hug or question, but you’re also setting the tone that you have responsibilities you need to fulfill.
5. Protect Your Mental Health: Self-Care Is Non-Negotiable
Why This Matters
Your well-being isn’t just a nice bonus; it’s the foundation for both a healthy family life and a successful business. Stress, burnout, and overwhelm can sabotage the best-laid routines. Treating self-care as a priority ensures you have the emotional and mental energy to show up as the CEO and mom your family needs.
Actionable Advice: Small, Consistent Habits
Micro Self-Care Moments: Even a 10-minute stretch, a quick meditation session, or a brief walk around the block can reset your mood and mindset.
Use Mindfulness Apps: Tools like Calm or Headspace offer guided meditations that fit into busy schedules. Even a two-minute breathing exercise can help regulate stress.
Set Realistic Expectations: Self-care doesn’t have to mean day-long spa trips. It can be a hot cup of tea in silence or a short journaling session before bed. The key is consistency.
Real-Life Example
Mom of a Newborn: You might only manage short, 5-minute self-care intervals—perhaps a breathing exercise while the baby naps. Over time, you can gradually extend these moments.
Mom with Older Kids: You may carve out 30 minutes in the evening to do yoga or read. Encourage older children to respect this time by explaining why it matters.
Addressing Common Challenges
Mom Guilt: Remind yourself that when you’re mentally and emotionally balanced, you’re better able to give your best to both your business and your children.
Unexpected Interruptions: If your self-care moment is interrupted, be flexible. Reschedule it for later in the day, or shorten it if needed. The point is to maintain a habit, even if you have to adapt.
Tailoring Routines to Different Family Dynamics
No two mompreneurs have the same family structure or schedule. Here are some tailored approaches to consider:
Single Moms:
Wake up 30 minutes earlier than your children for uninterrupted focus—whether that’s for journaling, reviewing emails, or planning your day.
Meal prep on Sundays or whenever you have extra help, so weekday cooking becomes simpler and faster.
Families with a Co-Parent:
Coordinate schedules so each parent can take on specific routines—like one handles the morning rush while the other handles bedtime.
Alternate childcare duties on evenings or weekends, allowing each parent blocks of uninterrupted work.
Large Families:
Establish “zones” of the day (e.g., morning is all about getting kids to school; midday is your work block; late afternoon is family time).
Older siblings can sometimes help younger ones with activities or homework, giving you extra pockets of work time.
Flexible Approaches to Scheduling
Life can be unpredictable, especially when kids are involved. That’s why flexibility is your best friend.
Pomodoro Technique: Work in 25-minute focused bursts followed by a 5-minute break. This method helps maintain concentration and can be adapted to your kids’ short attention spans.
Weekly Goals vs. Daily Rigid Schedules: If your children’s naps or moods vary a lot from day to day, set weekly targets for your business tasks. For instance, by week’s end, you want to complete X number of client calls, Y marketing materials, and so on. Spread out the tasks across the week in whatever pockets of time you can find.
Tools and Apps to Keep You Organized
Here are some tried-and-true digital helpers to keep your routine running smoothly:
Time Management & Planning
Trello or Asana: These platforms let you manage tasks and projects with a visual board or list. Great for tracking progress on multiple work projects and personal errands.
Google Calendar: Perfect for time blocking. Color-code your calendar for work, family, and personal time.
Task Automation
Zapier: Automates repetitive tasks like sending social media posts or follow-up emails.
IFTTT (If This, Then That): Connects different apps and devices to create automatic workflows. For instance, if you receive a client email, you can set it to automatically create a task in Trello.
Personal Organization
Notion: A powerful all-in-one workspace for tracking tasks, setting goals, and storing documents. You can even add journaling pages for reflection.
Cozi Family Organizer: Ideal for managing household schedules, grocery lists, and chore assignments across multiple family members.
Productivity Boosters
Focus Booster: Uses the Pomodoro technique to help you work in concentrated intervals.
RescueTime: Tracks how you spend time on your devices, revealing productivity pitfalls and helping you optimize focus.
Overcoming Common Challenges
As mompreneurs, we face a unique set of hurdles. Here’s how to tackle two of the biggest ones:
Mom Guilt
Reframe Priorities: Remind yourself that working on your business sets an inspiring example for your children. They see you striving, persevering, and growing—lessons that will serve them for a lifetime.
Incorporate Family Time: Even 15 minutes of undistracted play, reading, or storytelling can mean the world to your kids. Quality trumps quantity when you’re fully present.
Unexpected Interruptions
Buffer Zones: Leave at least a 30-minute gap between major tasks or calls. This way, if something happens—like a child meltdown or a last-minute grocery run—you have breathing room.
Preparedness: Keep snacks, activities, or a “busy box” of quiet games at hand so you can quickly distract or occupy your child if something urgent comes up.
Flexibility is Key: If the day goes sideways, try to adjust your time blocks. Move tasks to the evening or early morning if needed. The key is to stay nimble rather than rigid.
Putting It All Together: A Day in the Life of a Balanced Mompreneur
Let’s paint a picture of how these tips and tools might work in practice:
6:00 – 6:30 AM: Wake up 30 minutes before the kids. Enjoy a cup of coffee and a quick journaling session in Notion to plan your day’s top three tasks.
6:30 – 9:00 AM: Morning routine with the kids—breakfast, getting dressed, and school drop-off. You’ve blocked this time off on Google Calendar as “Family Time.”
9:00 – 12:00 PM: Work block. You check Trello for your daily tasks and focus on the most critical projects first (client proposals, follow-ups, etc.). You use Focus Booster to stay on track in 25-minute intervals.
12:00 – 1:00 PM: Lunch and a mental break. Take a short walk or do a quick guided meditation using Calm.
1:00 – 2:30 PM: Second work block for tasks like responding to emails or social media scheduling. If your toddler is napping, this is prime time.
2:30 – 3:00 PM: Buffer zone. You wrap up any loose ends before picking up the kids.
3:00 – 8:00 PM: Family time (homework, playtime, dinner). Phones are on silent mode for work notifications, helping you be present.
8:00 – 9:00 PM: Wind down the kids. If you have a partner, maybe you alternate bedtime stories.
9:00 – 10:00 PM: If you’re not too tired, check in on social media comments or plan the following day. Or choose to read, watch a show, or simply rest if you need more self-care.
On weekends or days when school isn’t in session, you adjust accordingly—perhaps you schedule a babysitter for a few hours or rely on your partner or a family member so you can tackle any critical tasks. Flexibility is built into the system, ensuring you have structure without sacrificing spontaneity or precious family moments.
Final Motivation: You’ve Got This!
Embracing new routines as a mompreneur isn’t about aiming for perfection; it’s about creating frameworks that allow you to flourish in both your business and your family life. Yes, you’ll face challenges—your toddler might pour cereal on the floor during your Zoom pitch, or you might miss a deadline if your teenager suddenly needs help with a school project. But every setback is an opportunity to refine your systems and strengthen your resolve.
Remember:
Prioritize ruthlessly, so you’re always clear on what needs your attention most.
Embrace time blocking, so you can shift smoothly between work and home.
Lean on your support system, whether personal or professional.
Create a kid-friendly workspace, so you can focus without shutting out your family.
Protect your mental health, because your well-being fuels every other area of your life.
Trust that you are capable of building and adapting routines that let you be both the rockstar entrepreneur and the loving, present mom you want to be. Every day won’t be perfect, but with the right mindset and strategies, you’ll see steady progress toward your goals.
You’ve got this, mama! Go forth, experiment with new strategies, and keep refining until you find the rhythm that truly supports your dreams and your family’s needs.