As entrepreneurs, our businesses are able to flex with big transitions in life as long as we’re making them work for us. If you’re a fan of seeing the behind the scenes or day in the life of other business owners, this is for you! In this episode, Dawn Richardson of Tech Savvy Creative joins us to discuss how she has found a flexible schedule and balance in being both a mom and a business owner. She gets candid in sharing the reality that comes with big changes in her life, while also building a life that works best for her.
Welcome to this Behind the Scenes series on So, Here’s the Thing Podcast! In this series, we’re exploring the lives of successful entrepreneurs and business owners to find out what it takes to keep a business running!
A Day in the Life; Tech Expert + Educator / Going Behind the Scenes
Dawn Richardson is a software engineer turned wedding photographer who now helps creatives with technology in their business through her company, Tech Savvy Creative, where offers courses and online resources. As a momma of two, she’s finding balance in her life and career, because they recently decided to pull their girls out of daycare, which moved her into the role of stay-at-home mom while running her business.
The biggest struggle has been not having her own time and finding the balance, so in the last few weeks, they brought in a nanny to help 12 hours per week.
Creating a Flexible Routine
Dawn’s days typically kick off with a lot of coffee—alongside her “survive” routine, which is a very flexible routine. She gets her youngest up and fed, followed by her toddler, then their nanny takes over the children and household tasks.
During those 12 hours a week that the nanny is with them, that’s when Dawn is focused on getting work done in her business. As many moms know, flexibility is key here because so many things can change.
Once her work day ends and the nanny leaves, Dawn spends her time with her kids. Sometimes she’ll take advantage of calm times to work on her laptop, but it simply depends on the day. There is a weird balance in trying to be productive and present, so most of the time, she’s focused on the time she has with them, as she knows just how fast time moves.
Parkinson’s Law
There is a principal called Parkinson’s Law that highlights that your work contracts and expands to fill the time you’ve alotted for it. This is easily recognized when you go from taking your business from a side hustle to full-time, because you realize tasks that used to take you far less time now take you a lot longer, because you have the extra time.
While this law exists, it’s important to look at the time that you do have, find what you can actually accomplish successfully during that time, and work with that.
For Dawn, she has 12 hours per week to work on and in her business, yet she finds herself frustrated that there are so many other things she wants to accomplish. She has to remind herself that the reason she is an entrepreneur is to have the time with her kids that she gets in the flexibility that entrepreneurship offers.
What Works for Dawn in Her Day in the Life
Dawn has found a few things that work for her and encourage productivity in her business, even when she has the kids.
For example, when Dawn sets her laptop on the counter while the kids are around, she can accomplish so much more than if she is sitting down on the couch. Otherwise, they want to climb on her and get her attention. By standing up, she can get small tasks done in little spurts of time.
Another productivity hack for her is getting dressed and putting shoes on—this could simply mean changing into “working pajamas.”
Not Every Situation Will Be Best for You
There are so many ways to run a business that are being taught by experts, but the reality is that you’re in charge of your time and how you spend it. You know what works best for you in your business, and if that contradicts what some professionals are telling you, that’s okay.
This could even mean working around your most inspirational times, whether that is in the morning, the afternoon, or at night—take advantage of those bursts of inspiration.
Keeping the Positivity Healthy with Realism
After years and years of knowing Dawn and being friends both in the industry and outside of it, she’s always held a positivity in her personality that is beautiful and real. I’ve even seen her through different stages of life. Dawn opened up and share that she wasn’t fulfilled in being a stay-at-home mom and wanted to keep her work a priority, which is something that so many entrepreneurs can resonate with.
Being a stay-at-home mom is hard—it’s no easy task and it’s not for everyone. For her personality, her cup is filled with being productive and accomplished through her work. Through this transition, she’s able to show her family and her kids that it is okay to struggle through those hard times while still being thankful to be here.
Be thankful for the flexibility in your career that you’ve created for yourself.
The Unpopular Opinion
It is okay to only work a little bit at a time. Your life looks different from others, which again, means that you’ll have to do what works best for you. In seasons of chaos, that might mean working for a few minutes here and there to get stuff done. This is your permission to accept that this approach is okay.
When you are a creative entrepreneur, time management is the number one key to preventing burnout! Click to join the list and download my free worksheet.