How to Find the Time as a Parent Entrepreneur
Edition 3: Make your entrepreneurial pursuits a reality with a baby or toddler in the house
You thought you were busy pre-baby. Time is even more constrained now with a baby or toddler in the house.
What about your entrepreneurial pursuits? Do you put everything on hold until baby starts school? Do you work through the night?
The answer is simple: get your baby toddler on a routine. A routine brings predictability. Baby knows what’s happening during the day -- and so do the parents. That means regular slots of time each day to work on side hustles.
Babies thrive on a routine; it helps them feel safe and secure. If they don’t have to fret about their next meal, they can focus on other things, like lifting that heavy head, rolling, or crawling.
As parents we benefit, too.
My son, Hayden, eats, plays, and naps at the same time each day. He knows what’s coming up next, and so do I. When I put him into his crib at 8:30 this morning for his nap, I knew I’d have about an hour and a half to myself before he’d wake up. I use these pockets while Hayden naps to work on entrepreneurial projects, like writing this newsletter.
Use one or two of these pockets of time while baby naps toward your entrepreneurial pursuit, and you’ll make significant progress. That’s how I created Learning Babies and Baby’s Weekly & Daily Log Book. I worked on them as Hayden napped. And because he’s on a routine I knew when those nap times would be and for how long.
You can also get up an hour before baby wakes up in the morning, which is what I’m doing for my next entrepreneurial pursuit: writing an eBook. I get up one hour before Hayden wakes up -- and because he’s on a routine I know when he’ll wake up -- to work on the book. One hour a day. Every day. That’s it, until tomorrow.
An hour may not sound like a lot. But you learn to make the best of small chunks of time. When baby is on a routine, you know when these chunks of time are and can plan what you can realistically get done.
Taking care of baby is demanding, but it’s so important. While you won’t have five hours of uninterrupted work, unless someone else is taking care of baby, you will have blocks of time to make progress. That’s what matters: keep moving forward, a little each day. A routine can help make that a reality.
“What it’s like to be a parent: It’s one of the hardest things you’ll ever do but in exchange it teaches you the meaning of unconditional love.”
― Nicholas Sparks