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Five Top Tips to Help You Get Stuff Done if You Have Limited Time to Work

In advance of Mother's Day this Sunday we have the first in a series of fantastic Guest Posts. Our first is from Nicola Semple, founder of the Mums Business Academy and author of soon to be released ‘Staying Home With the Kids: Stay Sane, Stay You and Enjoy Your Time at Home With Your Little People’. Over to Nicola...  When you have decided to run a business around your family then your time is your most precious commodity. You’re need to juggle looking after your children, creating your products, keeping your customers happy and everything else involved in running your business. So often friends will say to me, ‘I don’t know how you do it!’   They struggle to get their head round it   'How do you fit it all in? How do you manage to run your business and still be around for the kids? I will be the first to admit that I am not perfect. I have the odd day when I get 'lost' on Facebook, clean the toilet rather than getting on with my book keeping (I hate cleaning so you can draw your own conclusions about how I feel about book keeping) but these days are the exceptions rather than the rule. I want to share with you my five simple strategies to get more done in the time that you have available. 1. Be Focused First of all you need to have a clear vision of what you are trying to achieve.   If you have this ‘master plan’ in place then you will know exactly what you want to achieve and what you need to do to achieve it. Every single thing that you do in your business must be taking you a step closer to achieving these goals.   When you look at your ‘to do’ list if there is anything on there that doesn’t take you closer to your goals then don’t do it! Having a framework in place to help you prioritise what work you need to do on an ongoing basis will make your life so much easier. 2. Establish Routines Routines - love them or hate them, they are important. They are important for young children so that they feel secure and they are important in your business so that you establish good habits. Every Sunday evening I sit down and plan out my week ahead. I work out exactly how much time I have to work on my business, what needs to be done and I schedule the work into my diary. I also plan out my social media activity for the week and decide on the topic of my blog post and newsletter. This means that when I get the opportunity to do some work I know EXACTLY what I need to do. No faffing, no trying to decide what work should take priority. I just get on and do it. 3. One Thing at a Time We hear it all the time 'mums are expert multitaskers'.  And we are! We can soothe a teething baby, make a packed lunch, cajole little people into eating breakfast, empty the dishwasher and get the chopping and prep done for the evening meal........ all at the same time.......and all before 8am. But, when it comes to your business, multitasking is a big 'no no'. Remember it is all about focus.  Get one task done, FINISH it and then move on to the next task. This way you actually achieve things. You get stuff done and you are not left with a series of half-finished jobs that haven't moved your business any further forward. 4. Protect Your Time If you have allocated time in your week to work on your business then you need to be a protective tiger mama over that time. Time is precious. As a working mum there isn't a lot of it going spare. Kids get sick (a lot!), emergencies happen and if you forego that work time you need to make sure that you reclaim it somehow. Don't let your business fall down the family priority list. There is also a risk if you are working from home that other people will think that you are 'available'. I have a friend who always calls during nap time - her little girl has gone to sleep and she is using the opportunity of some peace and quiet to catch up with friends. I now don't answer my phone when I am working unless I think it is an emergency, it's just not worth the risk of losing out on my precious work time. 5. Switch off Distractions If you want to reach level 150 of Candy Crush then that is your choice but then don't complain that your business isn't growing as quickly as you would like. Whatever your vice, make sure that you have measures in place to minimise distractions during your working time. Delete games from your phone, turn off social media notifications, hide the remote control.  Whatever works for you. All of these things are so simple, yet so effective and if you implement even just one or two of them, I can guarantee that you will get more done in the time that you have available. Nicola is passionate about helping women make the career choices that are right for them and their family, particularly helping mums to build a successful business at home, around their family and on their own terms.   You can find out more about her here: http://nicolasemple.com

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