This Mothers' Day Support Mompreneurs to Break Boundaries

Being a new mom is a challenging task and managing a business at the same time is even tougher. As a driven “mompreneur”, one always feels a constant tug of war between dedicating your time towards your business and your child.

I recall how guilty I felt when I had to leave my baby at home when she was just six weeks old to attend meetings and overseeing the day-to-day working of my venture. I had always known that it would be practically impossible for me to take a maternity break to ease into being a new mother and I had prepared for it. I worked till the very last minute before my baby was born and started working from home right after.  I believe that when you have your own venture to take care of, you tend to work harder, manage better and learn faster.

Every mother has a different journey and I commenced mine six months ago; in this time, I have learned a few tricks to help me manage both aspects of my life. Balancing motherhood with the challenges of being an entrepreneur requires one to be highly organized and a blocked calendar with each second of your day accounted for. It is extremely crucial that we consistently grow with each experience and adapt to the changing circumstances within the blink of an eye.

As both mothers and entrepreneurs – we are constantly juggling the task of feeding the baby and responding to e-mails alongside many other responsibilities. Therefore, it is important for us to learn to delegate our responsibilities and create a strong supportive ecosystem. For me, this strength lies in my mom, my husband, my nanny, and my core leadership team. Similarly, it is key that we prioritize our time and responsibility towards each chore and then find time in our schedule to focus on every aspect individually. Multitasking–although works with certain tasks – might not prove to be productive in the long run as it keeps you from concentrating on the job at hand, leaving us unsatisfied with the work done at both ends.

In this hustle to get everything done, we tend to forget our own well-being and get overworked. Although I understand most working mothers do not have the luxury to take “me time” often, however, I strongly believe it is a necessity. Therefore, we must ask for help and reach out to our extended family and friends to relieve us from our responsibilities as and when possible. A peaceful sleep, meditation, and exercise should ideally become a part of your daily routine, as it helps to keep you focused and energized throughout the day. Regular exercise also helps you to manage your stress levels. This could be managed by dividing the baby related chores with your partner and scheduling these activities in your calendar daily. For example, since I breastfeed my child, I pump milk daily (even when in office) to create a stash for our daughter. My husband can then use this stash to feed her when I am working, resting or running any other errands.

Using the technology available at our disposal also helps in keeping our sanity as mompreneurs. I make sure that I take a few ten-minute breaks while in the office to video call my daughter who is with my mother for the most part of the weekdays. Similarly, I video and teleconference with my team in the office when I am working from home. As much as it is necessary to be focused on both work and your child, it is key to draw boundaries that would not overwhelm us in the long term. To ensure this, I have put in place a “no meeting on weekend policy” for myself.

As new mothers and businesswomen, we are constantly subjected to advice from the people around us. Although, they have good intentions, more often than not, they do not understand your commitments, priorities, and schedules. Therefore, the trick is to find what works best for you and follow it through on your terms.

This article is written by Neha Bajaj, Managing Director, Scroll Mantra.