My First Failure As A Busy Mom And How I Bounced Back!

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It was mid-January. The younger of my two boys had just turned a year old, I was working a full time job and decided to take on not one but TWO side projects (one being this blog). I was excited, inspired and exhilarated- until it happened. I hit my first streak of failure as a busy mom, and this is the story of how I bounced back. 

It may not have been what some consider to be a failure, there was no big life altering fail and I didn’t give up, but I SURE AS HECK FELT LIKE I WAS FAILING. Out of nowhere I went from being the controlled chaos mom to a total train wreck!

I was missing appointments, forgetting due dates, late to just about everything, and even sent out a huge misprint to a large client email list. I was MORTIFIED given my usual attention to detail and confused by these new traits that just weren’t normally me.

One night, we even ordered takeout and then I went into autopilot and began to cook dinner. My husband made a simple inquiry of where I was at mentally and I ended up in tears!

I felt like I was failing as a wife, as a mom, and as an employee and an aspiring entrepreneur.

Had I taken on too much? Could I handle the pressure of having so many irons in the fire? Maybe I should give up on this dream of “doing it all” and just settle for status quo.

I unplugged for the long weekend, had a couple heart-to-heart conversations with my hubby over a few too many glasses of wine, and took some quiet time to really enjoy my family and reflect on what I wanted.

And what I wanted was to keep going! I didn’t want to give up! I felt like I was really just getting started and I had more in me still left to give, I just needed to find a better way to balance it all.

Here’s what got me through, and the things I have implemented have a better work/life balance as a working mom!

All The Lists!

Like seriously ALL the lists! Make lists for everything! Groceries, to-dos, pending items, EVERYTHING! It’s only science that your brain can only remember so many things. The more you add to your plate, it’s only a matter of time that something falls off if you don’t have a tracking system.

I recently started using Trello and I can make boards (color coded BTW! Big plus for me!) for each area of my life, and have lists of all kinds within each board. Almost like an organizational Pinterest to keep my life together!

I also got this super cute planner, appropriately named The Happy Planner. I found that I operate better when my calendar was on paper rather than in my phone. This planner also is filled with motivational pages, and has a spot for me to write out my goals for each month and week. I have dubbed 2018 my “Year of Goals” so this has been perfect to track my progress and focus on specific goals.

Surround Yourself With Like Minded People

It’s no secret that those closest to us have a very real impact on our lives, from our attitudes to our ambition and everything in between. If you choose to surround yourself with uplifting, motivated, and successful people it’s only natural that those attributes will rub off on you as well.

I found a tribe of women entrepreneurs and when I was my low point I reached out and shared my feelings of failure. They came back with cheers to keep going and some hilarious stories of failure and how they pressed on. It was amazing to have that support and to know I wasn’t alone. In fact, many of them said they feel like they fail at least a few times a day but that’s when the magic happens!

Set A Work Schedule

Being your own boss certainly has it’s perks, and setting you’re own hours is one of the best. But so often that turns into working round the clock. That motivation is great, but even the best burn out if you never “clock out” every once in awhile.

You can still be flexible as life throws you curveballs (another great perk of running your own gig), but be sure to schedule yourself some time off. Which brings me to my last “must do”-

Set Aside Time to Recharge

Unplug, staycation, vacation, go offline, whatever you call it – DO IT! Take time to honor your needs and love yourself! Do you need a day of drinking mimosas with girlfriends? Binging Netflix? Going to a ball game with your husband? Driving to the beach with your kids? If you are looking for some ideas on how to love yourself, we’ve got our short list for busy moms here.

Whatever it is that calls to your soul, put it at the top of your to-do list. That’s right, I said the TOP! We both know if you put it anywhere other than right up top it will get pushed aside and never happen. Use your time off wisely to leave you refreshed for when its time to get back to it. So here it is, permission to take a break and recharge!

What is it that you do to keep it all together and bounce back after bumps in the road? I’d love for you to share YOUR tips in the comments!

Cheers!