Summer is pretty much here already, and school will be out soon. This is a challenging time for home-based professional parents for a few reasons, just one of which is the aforementioned end of the school year. There are other things that make summer a challenging time. For example, the plethora of fun things to do can make work seem unappealing, especially if you’re used to working at night and on the weekends. Many families take at least one vacation during the summer, and building that into your work schedule can also take some doing.
With the potential challenges that lie ahead, how can you prevent your summer from being a bummer? Planning and preparation can go a long way towards ensuring that you have your share of fun in the sun. There are many ways that you can save time by planning ahead. Meal planning is one great time saver. By planning meals in advance and preparing a shopping list, you can sail through the grocery store and get what you need. As a bonus, you won’t waste time agonizing over what’s for dinner each night because you will just have to consult your meal plan. Have the kids help you make the plan, and you will get fewer complaints at the dinner table. Also, when the kids are old enough to do so safely, let them help out with some of the food preparation. Make sure to keep plenty of snacks on hand, because kids are usually very active during the summer and they get very hungry.
A family calendar is also another great tool for getting your family through the summer. Put every single thing that everyone is doing on that calendar, and you’ll always know whether you are available take on that last-minute project or attend that impromptu barbecue at your neighbor’s house. Choose a calendar with very large boxes for each day, so there’s plenty of room for everyone’s activities. As an extra added bonus, you’ll get a boost of motivation every time you look at the calendar and see the fun things that you have scheduled for yourself. If you don’t see many of those, it may be time to see the next tip below – it’s not too late.
Another very important thing that you can do to keep your cool this summer is setting realistic expectations for yourself. If you take some time and think about what you really want to do this summer, chances are that although you want your business to grow you also want to enjoy extra time with your family now that the kids are out of school. You can make choices regarding your work that will enable you to do just that. For example, if you want more free time to do fun things with your family, now may not be the best time to start going after new clients or larger accounts. Choosing not to go after those clients and accounts now does not mean that you will never grow your business; it just means that you might set a date to start working on that goal once school is back in session.