Listen to “MIH 050:How I Balance Being a Homeschool Mompreneur” on Spreaker.

I’m a homeschool mompreneur, and I know that there are a few of you others out there as well who are trying, like me, to balance both of these unique lifestyles. And if homeschooling isn’t your thing but you’re raising kids while working your business, then this podcast is still for you…so stay tuned.

Okay, mompreneurs out there- I know by the title of this post you’re thinking, “But is balance really possible?” Like you, I am skeptical of the promise of complete balance and freedom, and bliss in my daily schedule. It just won’t happen.

I firmly believe, however, that balance doesn’t just happen but it is achieved through hard work and perseverance (and even then it’s not a complete “balance”). Balance happens for every mompreneur in the way that suits her best for each particular season of her life. And it’s different all the time.

At this season of my life I am homeschooling my kids…and…I’m working flexibly around our daily school schedules. On this podcast, I will be sharing what’s been working for me (or not) and how I’ve managed over the years to merge two very alternative lifestyles and adapt them to meet my unique family needs.

I’ve also got a video to share from my homeschool YouTube channel over at MomZest. Most of what you’ll hear in this podcast will reiterate what I’ve mentioned in the video, but I share a few extra tips in the podcast that you might find helpful if you are balancing these two unique lifestyles.

Watch the video

You might be thinking: “But I don’t homeschool” or “I don’t have kids at home, but I’m a mompreneur who still needs help with life balance. Will this podcast be helpful for me?” Although I’m gearing up this particular episode with tips I’ve learned along the way as a homeschooling mom, in particular, I do believe that no matter what your kids’ education status, you can still very much benefit from this episode…so don’t tune out.

How I balance being a homeschool mompreneur

Prepare for the ride.

I’ll be honest with you, if you are planning to become a homeschool mompreneur, getting ready for the ride ahead of you will be the biggest challenge.  Mindset is always the #1 deterrent to success. Being mentally prepared for the task ahead and not cheating yourself out of the truth will take you a long way.

You will need to own up to the fact that the ride ahead of you will have some bumps and challenges. It won’t be smooth sailing and there will be days that you may feel like giving up. But in order to succeed, you’ll need to keep going. Prepare for the ride ahead of you by getting some support systems in place. Find groups of like-minded moms who are following the same path as you, who have also decided to become a homeschool mompreneur. Join entrepreneur meetups and groups in your area. Join groups online.  But whatever you do, get with somebody else who is walking the same path as you because you’ll need that support for your journey. Here are a few more tips to help you find a homeschool mompreneur life balance…

Embrace efficiency.

Juggling a homeschool lifestyle with work is not altogether impossible. In fact, it’s quite doable. Here’s an example of another mompreneur besides myself who is doing it.  In my family, I’ve learned a few tricks of the trade over the years that work for us quite beautifully, but it all started with trial and error.

One of the biggest lessons I learned, in the beginning, is that if an event, a task, a new routine or schedule isn’t efficient for the family, we won’t choose it. If it takes too much time or energy or doesn’t give our family the room to practice the simplicity when we need it, we won’t do it.

For many of you listening, that may mean finding schools for your kids closer to your home so you reduce travel time. It likely means arranging your work hours to fit around your kids’ school schedules so that you’re available for drop off and pick up. For a homeschool mom like myself that could mean choosing a curriculum that doesn’t require a ton of parent-teacher prep, choosing school hours that fit around my work routine, and changing my wake/sleep cycle to allow for more time in the mornings and evenings to accomplish my business work so that I still have the space to homeschool.

Efficiency means streamlining my family lifestyle in a way that allows for increased productivity with the least amount of stress for everyone in involved.  That’s a huge undertaking and it’s not a perfect process, but I find that when I set my mind to it, I can place my plans into motion and watch the efficiency begin happening.

Keep a loose, yet solid routine.

Playing off the idea of efficiency is the concept of scheduling.

Time management is a major topic in the business industry because everyone in business has to learn how to make good use of their time. What I’ve learned as a homeschool mom is that I have to keep our family schedule loose enough to allow for flexible situations that may come up: like education field trips, weekly coops, and group classes. But I also have to make sure our routine is solid enough so that, although our days don’t look alike from one day to the next, we at least have some idea of what a daily school routine looks like. I also have an idea of what my routine looks like for keeping up my home (meal prep and cooking, cleaning days, laundry) and what routines I have in place for work.

Stay organized.

As a homeschool mompreneur, keeping organized is crucial. I keep physical notebooks as well as Google docs and a Google calendar. At the beginning of each week, I like to set expectations for the week, and what I wish to accomplish.

If you stay organized best with physical notebooks, digital notebooks, post-it notes, checklists, or one of those fancy planners, do whatever works best for you. The main things to organize are your physical space and your time. If I can ensure that I spend quality time with each child throughout the week, and time with my husband as well, I’m a happy camper.

I love family game nights, and dinner at the table together. That doesn’t happen all the time but when it does at any point during the week, it makes me pretty happy. Our time together as a family is even more important to me than the time I spend on the business. However, if I want to succeed in business I have to make sure that I spend adequate amounts of time moving forward on my plans and not getting stuck in a rut, which can happen so often with distractions.

For this reason, I hole myself up in an office or coffee shop during my business hours with a no-disturb sign if I’m at home so that I actually can get some work done. It’s just one of those things I have to do personally to make sure my family is on the same page with me and everyone understands I am working and that just because I’m in the room next door doesn’t mean I’m available to make a sandwich. 😉

Also, my kids are, thankfully, of the age now where they are making their own snacks and pretty much keeping the house running for me while I’m working.  They know that when I’m done working, we can spend time together and they’ll get 100% of me at that time. Keeping organized with my time is the only way for me to maintain family balance and still keep my business rolling!

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I hope that these tips have been helpful to you if you are in the same boat as I am. Being a homeschool mompreneur isn’t easy but it is definitely doable. Let me know if I can help you in any way such as with branding your business or designing your new logo and website.

Let me know how you enjoyed the video and podcast!