Motherhood and balance is being tested yet again. Like many business women, I am also a mother, a single mother. So, in a sense, I have two children: the small human one who is 4.5 years old and wakes by 5 a.m., and our business. I’ve seen a lot of parallels in nurturing them both over four years. This time is emotionally and economically challenging along with the uncertainty, the worry and fear we are all being faced with. In what seems a flash, we are juggling working from home and supporting our families, coupled with anxieties about health, finances and the well-being of loved ones.

I think, as a parent, we need an extra layer of thick skin right now. If I were to take my son’s scowling tantrums and frustration to heart when he doesn’t understand why he can’t see his friends or play in the park, I would think I was the worst mother in the world. I know that he might not like me today, but, tomorrow, things will be better again and so on with the cabin fever rollercoaster we are all riding. 

In business, the best way to grow is to be challenged and try new things. The real tip here is to boil down what you need to say to your community of loyal customers, be it on your website, in an email or in a blog post. Forsake all the extraneous filler and fluff. What’s important here? What does your community care about? How do you help her? Currently, we are trying to make our business about more than profits. It’s important to support healthy communities, both at a local and national level. We are trying to reach out to fellow self-care and mindful businesses to see how we can forge and support each other: promoting others on all platforms [and] purchasing local. 

We have a female team who are invaluable humans to us as business owners. This global crisis has put a lot of strain on small businesses. How do we pay our production staff? If we don’t, they can’t pay bills and rent. It’s bigger than just us. We have a moral responsibility to protect our team and that just brings us all closer. Our team are all working from home. I am personally packaging up our online orders, meanwhile allowing my son to watch a disgusting amount of Netflix. I’m rewarding him with more chocolate than he’s ever seen at Easter, and we are failing at the regimented daily schedule that I went cross-eyed trying to perfect as seen on many social posts. 

This is a time for us to stop, to be kind to ourselves and others. I highly recommend:

1. FaceTiming daily with friends and family. This has been a huge source of comfort to my mental health. 
2. I have made a pact to myself that I take 10 minutes to mediate using the free Calm app being offered. 
3. Get dressed! It might seem like a simple tip, but it’s a crucial one for me to not exist in my sweatpants. 
4. Designate a workspace or home office. Instead of trying to hide from my son and frantically work without him, I have set him up his own workstation next to mine with an old keyboard. He now thinks we work together, and he told me this morning he was a good boss.
5. Keep clearly defined working hours.
6. Simple scheduling. I’ll be honest, there have been days where I didn’t set a schedule, but I have since learned from those experiences. This is my first time ever doing something like this because I don’t know how long we’re going to be in this situation, so we need to just try to move the best way we can. 

We are all doing our best as long as the WiFi keeps working and the snacks don’t run out.