Latest / Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney / Help! Surviving the school holidays as a wedding business owner!

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Help! Surviving the school holidays as a wedding business owner! · Wedding Pros who are ready to grow - with Becca Pountney

0:00
Becca: As you know, I like to keep things real on this podcast.
0:03
And this week is one I've been stressing about for a little while now.
0:07
Ideally love my children, but as the six week, summer holidays is upon us, I know
0:11
it's going to be absolute chaos for me.
0:13
As I balance being a full-time parent with running my business.
0:16
If that's you right now, I've got you.
0:18
And in today's episode, I'm gonna be sharing some ideas of how you
0:21
can survive the summer holidays as a parent and a wedding business owner.
0:25
And just to let you know, I'm gonna be honest.
0:27
No perfect parent here.
0:30
I'm Becca Pountney, wedding business marketing expert, speaker, and blogger.
0:34
And you are listening to the wedding pros who are ready to grow podcast.
0:38
I'm here to share with you actionable tips, strategies, and real life
0:41
examples to help you take your wedding business to the next level.
0:45
If you are an ambitious wedding business owner that wants to take your passion
0:49
and use it to build a profitable, sustainable business, doing what you
0:52
love, then you're in the right place.
0:54
Let's get going with today's episode.
0:58
Let's be honest, whoever planned out the school terms clearly
1:01
didn't own a wedding business.
1:02
It is the busiest time of year for us and all of a sudden, so many of us are
1:07
now having to juggle work and childcare.
1:09
And if we're honest, it can be really hard.
1:12
Yeah.
1:12
I'm sure there's gonna be loads of those lovely Instagram posts about all the
1:16
wonderful family time everyone's having just to make us feel really guilty.
1:20
If the reality is anything like is in my house.
1:22
Yes.
1:23
I'll be having fun with the kids, but I'll also be having some minor meltdowns
1:26
in my brain about the massive to-do list that definitely isn't getting done.
1:30
So if that's you right now and you're stressing about how on earth you're
1:33
gonna survive the summer, hopefully some of the tips and realities
1:37
in today's episode will help you.
1:39
So my first tip is to get organized.
1:41
Now I know this sounds obvious, but as a parent, we often
1:45
have to be organized anyway.
1:47
As this episode is going out just as the summer holidays are
1:50
either started or about to start.
1:51
You might be thinking it's too late for me to get organized.
1:54
Well, let me tell you, it's not, you can get organized right now.
1:59
All you need is to sit down one evening and plan this out now for a start.
2:03
Why don't you schedule your social media posts ahead of time so that you're
2:07
not spending every day in the summer holidays worrying about what to post.
2:10
I mean, realistically, you might wanna cut it down and do less posts than normal,
2:13
but even if you post three or four times a week, schedule them ahead at the beginning
2:17
of the week, spend an hour getting them scheduled, and then you don't have to
2:20
worry about it for the rest of that week.
2:23
If you're even more organized, then get it all scheduled for the whole six week,
2:27
summer holiday, right at the start.
2:29
And then you can relax knowing that your social media is posting for you,
2:32
even when you are having to be at the park at the swings, doing whatever
2:36
it is that you've got going on.
2:39
I noticed this week that Facebook creator studio has now been
2:42
updated to meta business suite.
2:44
And this is really great.
2:46
You can use it to schedule all of your Facebook and
2:48
Instagram posts ahead of time.
2:50
It's free to use.
2:51
And the great thing is they've updated the software.
2:53
So you can now go in and put the same post on Facebook and Instagram.
2:57
But change it slightly before it goes live.
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So you can change the tags.
3:00
You can take out the hashtags on the Facebook post and it makes
3:03
everything really super simple.
3:05
So if you need some help with scheduling, go and check out that
3:08
either search for meta business suite or Facebook creator studio within
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your Facebook and that tool should come up, it makes life so much easier.
3:15
When you plan ahead and schedule don't overdo it.
3:18
Just get a little bit organized.
3:21
My second piece of advice for this summer is to lose the parent guilt.
3:25
We can spend so much time feeling guilty and let's be honest.
3:28
It doesn't help anyone sometimes.
3:31
It's okay.
3:32
If we have to do a little bit of work during the summer holidays, it's not
3:35
realistic to expect you to be able to take the whole six weeks off.
3:38
So if you need it, find some occasional childcare.
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Now, this could be from a family member.
3:44
It could be from a friend who you can ask for your kids to go there on a play
3:47
date, depending on how old they are.
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It could be with a local holiday club.
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I mean, for example, with my children, I've booked them into a holiday club, uh,
3:54
that I know they're gonna love with their friends at the beginning of the summer.
3:57
And I've booked them into some dance workshops at the end of
3:59
the summer, just so I know I've got a few days breathing space to
4:03
catch up on any much needed admin.
4:06
Now personally, I'm not one for putting my children in loads and loads of
4:09
childcare, mainly because it's expensive.
4:11
And I wanna spend that time with them.
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That's why I run my business the way I do, but also I know
4:16
they're gonna love these things.
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So I've only booked them into things I know they're gonna love.
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And I know it's gonna make me more of a better person because my head
4:23
space is gonna be clear because I know at least I've got a few days
4:26
each end of the holiday to get my head straight and to get my admin.
4:30
If money is an issue for you when it comes to childcare, have a look at
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what's going on in your local area.
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Sometimes councils have summer groups and summer play things which are
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free of charge to local families.
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And often churches in your community also might have some clubs or
4:44
holiday camps going on, which are often free of charge to utilize.
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So send them along with some of their friends and give yourself a day.
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And most importantly, don't feel guilty for it.
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As long as they're having fun, you're gonna be having a good time too.
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And like we said, at the beginning, there's always the option of a day
5:00
with the grandparents, perhaps a day and a play date with a friend,
5:03
but don't feel guilty for it.
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Don't feel like you've gotta be doing something amazingly fun.
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Every single day of the holidays.
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What I found myself is when I put that pressure on myself to do amazing
5:13
things every single day, I'm so stressed about the fact that I'm not
5:16
doing any work, that I'm probably not being as good a parent as I could be.
5:20
Whereas when I know I've got a few little bits of breathing space
5:22
to get that work done, I can put my head fully into what I'm doing
5:26
with the kids, relax and have fun.
5:28
So get organized and don't feel that guilt.
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My third tip for you is suitable.
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If your children are just that little bit older and don't need
5:37
quite as much help as maybe they do, when they're a little bit younger.
5:41
Now I am this mom, and I'm gonna be honest about that, but I'm always looking to
5:46
utilize things I have available to me.
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So my children love soft play.
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I can't stand it.
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My children also love the trampoline parks as well.
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So occasionally as a very special treat to them, I will book them in to go to a soft
6:00
play center, much to my disappointment, or to go to the trampoline park.
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Why?
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Because they love it.
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They can run around together.
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They can have fun.
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They have the time of their lives.
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I then use that opportunity to take my laptop.
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Yes.
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I'm that parent in the corner of a soft play with my laptop, because I know
6:16
that those kids are having a great time.
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They'll come back to me when they want lunch, when they want snacks,
6:20
when they need help with something, but they're out there having fun.
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And at the same time, I'm able to catch up on some emails, some admins, some editing,
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whatever it is that I've got to do.
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So don't be afraid to utilize these facilities that
6:32
you've got available to you.
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If your children love going to the soft play, I mean, what else are you gonna do?
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Sit there on your phone, scrolling.
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You might as well make the most of it and, uh, go to these soft play
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centers and don't feel bad about it.
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Be there, have your laptop open, catch up on some work while the kids are having.
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This fourth piece of advice is something that has taken me a
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little while to understand about myself and to get to grips with.
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And I think it's something that people aren't really talking about enough.
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So who better than for me to talk to you about it today?
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Because I guarantee some of you are feeling like this too, and having
7:03
spoken to other parents and other business owners about this issue.
7:07
I definitely find people resonate with it, even if they're not
7:10
talking about it out loud.
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And that is to not resent the time you've got with your children.
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On the surface, we can all say absolutely.
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I'm not gonna resent, spending time with my children.
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I love my children.
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I love the holidays.
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I love spending time with them.
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Of course you do.
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So do I, I love having my kids at home.
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I like nothing better than having an awesome day out at Lego land
7:29
or just having so much fun in the garden, in the paddling pool.
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However, I know my tendencies is when I feel stressed, I can start to feel that
7:38
resentment, not towards my children.
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But towards the fact that it feels like they're taking away my time that
7:45
I could be putting into my business.
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And that's a horrible feeling to have, because then you stop enjoying
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the time as much, because you're constantly thinking, but if they're
7:53
at school, I could be doing this.
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Or if they just weren't here, I'd be so productive.
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And all those people that don't have kids are doing way more than me.
8:00
They're on Instagram all the time.
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They're getting all their work done.
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And here I am stuck at home with a couple of kids and.
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That's a horrible mindset to get into because then you start
8:08
feeling guilty about feeling it.
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And that's why people don't talk about it.
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And I think it's a very real feeling.
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I think there's times when often we can feel like that, especially when we look
8:17
at what other people are doing on social media, or even when we are looking at
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other people who don't work or don't have a business and they're having all this fun
8:24
time with their kids and they don't have all those other things to worry about.
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And then we can start resenting our business.
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So how do we.
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Over this feeling.
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Well, what I found has helped me is to totally separate in my brain
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work time from children time.
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And that's easier said than done, but I use some of these tactics
8:42
I've talked about so that I know I'm gonna have specific work time.
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So I'll put in my diary, I'm gonna have two hours on Monday evening.
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I'm gonna do one soft play day where I'm gonna have a couple
8:51
of hours in the soft play.
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I'm gonna put them into one dance camp so that I can have a whole day's work.
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And because I know I'm gonna have that time, I then stop resenting the other.
9:00
Because I can absolutely relax and enjoy it knowing I don't need to worry
9:04
about this stuff because I know I can deal with it on Monday evening.
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I know I can deal with it on soft play day or whatever it is.
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So if you are starting to feel that feeling, it's probably because you're not
9:15
carving out any time at all to work on your business and you need to separate it.
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If you're trying to keep everything going whilst entertaining children,
9:21
and you're on your phone, replying to emails, it can all get too much.
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And when you can try and separate that time out and plan ahead and know
9:28
which time is fun time with kids.
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Which time is right now, I'm gonna do a bit of work.
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It makes life so much easier even to the point where sometimes I'll say
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right on this day, I'm gonna wake up at 6:00 AM and I'm gonna smash through
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an hour's work in the morning so that I can relax for the rest of the day
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and not worry that I haven't got things done or on a Wednesday afternoon.
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I know I'm gonna stick on a film that they can watch on Disney.
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Plus, I'm gonna sit in the lounge and during that hour and a half,
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while they're watching a Disney.
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I'm in the room with them.
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I can get on and reply to some of those emails.
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It's all about making choices and just living with those
10:02
feelings and realizing, right.
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Why am I feeling this way?
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And how can I do something about it?
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And since I've made some of those changes and shifted that mindset, I've found
10:10
that it's so much better because then I much more enjoy those special times.
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I've got with the kids when it's all about them, we can play a game.
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I try and turn my phone off or put it in another room.
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So I don't get distracted.
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And then I also know, well it's okay.
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Cause I've got this time to.
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In a short while.
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Okay.
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My next piece of advice, some of you might already do this anyway in the week, but
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I think it's even more important when you're trying to juggle a busy time.
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This might be because you're juggling summer holidays or just because
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you've got so much work and that is the Sunday evening plan Sunday.
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Evening's a great time to do it.
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It's normally a downtime for most people and it means you can look at the
10:45
week ahead and see what you're doing.
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This is a great opportunity to talk to your partner.
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If you've got one about how you're gonna split your week and what people
10:52
are going out when and how things.
10:54
But it's also a great opportunity for you to have a look at your plan
10:58
for the week and what time you need.
11:00
Now, as part of this exercise, what I want you to do is to write down
11:04
some of those things in your head and write two lists essentials.
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Nice to do essentials.
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Nice to do now.
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Essentials are things that have to happen that week.
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Like totally non-negotiable they have to happen in the next seven days.
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Nice to dos are things that have been on your list and you
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wanna get them done that week.
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But if it goes into the week after, it's not the end of the world.
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So first of all, get your list on paper essentials and nice to dos.
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Now, depending on how many essentials you have is gonna depend.
11:34
How much time you need.
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So now go back through that list of essentials and look at it and
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think right, how much time is this realistic going to take me?
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How many hours does this work equate to?
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Because now I've got to find those hours somewhere else in the week.
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So if your essential things say, they're gonna take five hours, well
11:50
now you need to try and carve out five hours in and probably already.
11:54
Busy week now that might be either end of the day, like I talked about.
11:57
So it might mean that you've gotta get up earlier and do a couple of hours or
12:00
do one hour extra each morning before the kids are up and about and going
12:04
out, it might be that you've gotta stay up later in an evening or have
12:07
an evening in to get your work done.
12:09
Or it might mean that you need a few more of those soft play days or a phone
12:12
call to the grandparents to see if they can go and have a fun day with them.
12:16
If it's a nice to do, but not an essential, well, then maybe it can.
12:20
Maybe you don't need to put it into this week, but you've got it noted down
12:23
on paper and maybe it can move to next week where it might become an essential.
12:27
The main thing is though to get into that, thinking ahead, instead of
12:31
getting halfway through the week and then panicking, ah, I've got so much,
12:34
that's essential to get done and I don't have the time to do it, plan for it.
12:38
And then it won't come as a surprise.
12:39
So if you know, you need five hours, look at your week ahead and work out
12:43
when those five hours can be fit in and how you're going to do it around all of
12:47
the rest of the summer holiday madness.
12:50
My next tip for you is to get your kids involved in your business.
12:55
Now, depending on the age of your children is gonna depend how easy or how much
12:59
they're gonna be able to get involved.
13:00
But I promise you for most children, there's a way that they
13:03
can get involved and help you.
13:04
Now, this is a great way to mix work and children, because one thing I
13:09
love about owning my own business, especially as a mother is showing my
13:12
children what's possible and showing them, you know, how life works.
13:16
What's possible for them and that anything's possible if they wanna
13:18
own their own business in the future, create a job that they
13:21
love, all of those kind of things.
13:23
And by getting them involved in my business and helping them understand,
13:26
instead of them thinking mommy's always working, they suddenly start
13:29
seeing as work as being really fun.
13:31
So some examples could include, say, you've got a pack
13:34
your car for a wedding day?
13:35
Well, children, as young as three or four can help carry
13:37
light things out to the car.
13:39
And often they love doing it.
13:41
If you've got older children, perhaps teenagers, they're
13:44
amazing at Facebook and Instagram.
13:45
So why not get them involved?
13:47
Maybe pay them a little bit of pocket money or say that
13:49
you'll take them on a day out.
13:50
In return for them helping you out with your Instagram posts or
13:54
giving you some tips on TikTok or whatever it is, get them involved.
13:58
Often they've got skills that we can definitely use and utilize.
14:02
So obviously I'm not saying take advantage of your children, but if you,
14:05
if you make it fun and you get them involved in your business, they love it.
14:08
My kids love it.
14:09
There was a couple of times when, um, I had my little girl and she was
14:13
off sick, I think, or it was maybe it was during the lockdown and she'd
14:16
come on my accountability, Monday videos, occasionally with my members.
14:19
And she thought it was the best thing in the world.
14:21
She loved understanding mommy's work.
14:23
She loved being part of it and everyone thought it was cute as well.
14:27
I think it's really important to help children understand what
14:30
business is all about and what their parents do for a living.
14:32
And this is a great way to do it.
14:34
So suddenly you've got a couple of extra pairs of hands around the place.
14:37
Why not get them involved and see if there's something fun
14:39
you can be doing together.
14:43
Okay.
14:43
My next tip is be realistic.
14:46
I'm gonna say that again, be realistic.
14:49
I know deep down, I will not achieve as much in the next six weeks over
14:53
the summer holidays as I would in six weeks in term time, I know
14:57
that my kids are gonna be around.
14:58
I know I'm not gonna be as productive.
15:00
I know I'm gonna have a million, one other things to do, and that's okay.
15:03
I understand that.
15:05
I knew that's what was gonna happen and therefore I'm being realistic.
15:09
Be realistic about how much you can actually achieve.
15:11
Don't feel the pressure if you need to post a little bit less on social media,
15:15
because you're busy doing other things.
15:17
That's fine.
15:17
If you can't go and attend all the trainings you otherwise would.
15:21
That's okay.
15:22
As long as you're getting those essential things done, like going to a wedding
15:24
that you're booked for making a cake that you need to be making it's okay.
15:28
If there's other things that you just dropped the ball on a little bit, it's
15:32
only for a few weeks, it won't make a massive difference to your business.
15:35
You've got to be realistic.
15:39
Okay.
15:39
The next piece of advice is to be honest about your situation with
15:44
your clients and your audience.
15:46
If you're someone that talks about being a small business owner, a
15:50
local business, supporting a local business, that kind of thing, then
15:53
your audience will resonate with the fact that life's a little bit busy
15:56
right now because lots of other people will be experiencing the same things.
16:00
So be honest with your audience.
16:02
Tell them I'm about to go into the summer holidays.
16:04
It's gonna be chaos, but I will get back to you as quickly as I can or put
16:07
something on an out of office saying, um, due to being in the busy season,
16:11
you don't even have to say it's because you're at home with kids due to it.
16:14
Being the busy season, I may be slower to respond to messages than usual, but I aim
16:18
to be back with you within a few days.
16:20
Be honest with your audience.
16:21
Don't try and keep up the facade that everything's fine.
16:24
And you can manage with everything because that's just gonna lead to burnout.
16:28
Post on your Instagram stories and explain that it's summer holidays and
16:31
you're keeping things going, but things are a little bit busier than normal.
16:34
Just be honest with your audience, if anything, it will help them to
16:37
like you more because they get to know you behind the scenes of the
16:40
business and what you're all about.
16:42
And if they don't like it, well, maybe they're not your
16:45
ideal client after all now.
16:47
Depending on how you use your Instagram or Facebook will depend at what level of
16:51
professionalism you need to keep this to.
16:53
If you never talk about children, uh, on your account, or you never
16:56
talk about being a small business owner, then obviously you don't wanna
16:59
suddenly change your messaging, but you can still put out something about
17:03
how we are in the busy summer season.
17:05
Everyone knows wedding businesses are busiest in July and August.
17:08
And so use that to your advantage, to tell people maybe time to get back to them
17:12
might be a little bit slower than normal.
17:14
If you then still manage to supersede that and reply to them quicker,
17:18
they'll be really impressed.
17:19
So be really honest with your audience, explain that it's a busy time of year.
17:23
Explain that you might be slower to get back to them, put it on your
17:26
Instagram, pin it to your Facebook, send it on and out of office.
17:29
Go live on an Instagram story and talk about it.
17:31
Just be honest, but stay authentic to your brand.
17:36
Okay.
17:37
That brings me to my final piece of advice.
17:40
My final piece of advice is to get a piece of paper or save something in your
17:45
phone and call it to do in September.
17:49
this is something I have to do every single year, because all the way through
17:53
the summer, especially when I'm unwinding and doing other things, inspiration
17:56
hits, I'm reminded about something.
17:58
I think about a blog post to write, or I think about a podcast
18:01
to record, or I think of a new idea, or I wanna put my prices up.
18:04
Everything comes to me when I'm relaxed.
18:06
Okay.
18:06
And the same might be true for you.
18:08
So I start a piece of paper or a note in my phone called to do in September,
18:13
and I just start jotting down those ideas so that I don't lose them so
18:17
that when the kids go back to school in September, and I know I'm gonna
18:20
have a little bit more breathing space and a little bit more time again.
18:23
Guess what I can go to my list.
18:25
Everything's there everything's captured and I can get on and do it.
18:29
Now.
18:29
This means I don't have to action it there.
18:30
And then in the middle of the summer, when things are busy, but it also
18:33
means I won't forget about it because I've captured it somewhere important.
18:37
Then I can grab a cup of tea, enjoy the quietness of my
18:40
children, being back at school in September and go through that list.
18:43
Now something's on that list.
18:44
When I look at them again in September, won't be so relevant anymore and
18:47
I might even scratch them off, but there'll be other things that I'll
18:50
be glad I've written on there.
18:51
And I can now implement.
18:53
And action.
18:56
Let's recap then all of the tips that I've shared in today's episode, number one, get
19:01
organized, schedule some of your social media posts ahead and plan ahead so that
19:05
you're not doing everything in the moment.
19:07
Secondly, plan some childcare.
19:09
If you need it and stop with the guilt.
19:11
Thirdly, use the soft play.
19:14
That's one of my favorite tips.
19:15
Use the soft plate.
19:16
The kids love it and take your laptop along with you
19:18
and just get some work done.
19:20
Fourth don't resent that time that you spend with them.
19:22
Enjoy that time and switch off, try and keep work and kids separate and
19:27
you'll enjoy the summer much more next.
19:30
Write out that list of essentials on a Sunday evening, sit down,
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plan out your week, work out.
19:35
What's essential.
19:36
How many hours it's gonna take and then plan how that's gonna
19:38
happen in the week rather than getting halfway through the week.
19:41
And panick.
19:42
My next tip was to get your kids involved in your business.
19:45
Enjoy them.
19:46
Uh, they love it.
19:46
They love getting involved, helping you load the car, helping you paint
19:49
something, helping you with your social media, depending on their age.
19:55
Next.
19:55
Remember to be realistic, you can't do as much as you might do normally.
19:58
And that's okay.
20:00
Be easy on yourself.
20:01
Take the pressure off and be realistic with your own expectations of yourself
20:05
after all it's your own business.
20:06
You can do whatever you like.
20:08
The only person that's putting pressure on yourself is.
20:11
Then we talked about being honest with the audience, telling them
20:14
that you're busy right now, and it might take you longer to reply.
20:16
And finally, don't forget to start that to do in September list.
20:23
I hope today's episode has been helpful.
20:24
It's a very real look at what's going on right now in that moment.
20:28
And hopefully it's resonated with some of you as you go into this summer holidays
20:31
and think help, how am I gonna do it?
20:34
Know that you're not alone.
20:35
Lots of us are facing it.
20:37
Lots of us are having this juggle as well.
20:39
So let me know what your summer holiday tips are.
20:41
Send me a DM on Instagram.
20:42
I'd love to have your best tips and you've got this.
20:45
You're an amazing parent.
20:46
You're amazing business owner.
20:48
So don't panic.
20:49
I'll see you all next week.