Sometimes Mumpreneurs Need A Day Off Like Now

Most work-life balance conversations are between stay at home versus career mum; but what about mumpreneurs? Like all mums, mumpreneurs need a day off too and have a lot to manage.

The career mum might struggle with juggling her 9 to 5 (or more like 5 to 9), and deal with missing some milestones. For example, she might have to decide between the sales pitch and her daughter’s prize giving day in school.

The stay at home mum gets the chance to attend all the school plays but then stares longingly at her degree hanging on the wall. She wishes there was a way to do more than being just mum. These are starkly painted scenarios but the common extremes of the choices most mums have to make.

Mumpreneur

Welcome the Mumpreneur

We introduce the third group, the mumpreneurs – you know the mum who is not quite a stay at home nor the typical 9 to 5’er. She is the one who is most likely working from home and expected to attend school events because she has her own hours. In addition, she is also expected to deliver on her work projects and business on time. After all, her customers do not see a mum – they see a business.

There needs to be a new conversation about how Mumpreneurs juggle work-life balance. Click To Tweet

Are you Stay at Home?

Mumpreneurs struggle with the working from home bit and the demands of the family. If you have young children, your toddler sees mum at home and expects mum to play with him. If your children are older all they see is that mum at home but not available. They start to make comments suggesting that you are ignoring them or wonder why you are working all the time!

Friends Drop By

When you are a mumpreneur you have more unannounced visitors. Such as when your friend is passing through the neighbourhood and decides to pop by because you are home during the day. What should be a quick 20 minutes conversation can turn into a one-hour hangout. After the friend leaves, you need to get back into the zone, pick up where you left (if you can remember) and deal with the emails that have piled up.

Distractions from staff

If you are a mumpreneur in Lagos you can be sure you will get interrupted because your security guard wants to get permission to buy food or you need more diesel. The gardener shows up and wants to tell madam that the weeds are very stubborn. There is always some domestic interruption.

No closing Time

Most mumpreneurs do not really close for the day and get the chance to shut off from work. With the convenience of working from home; there is also the tendency to be tied to your smartphone. This can mean that there is no shutdown time. Working from home tends to include working round the clock unless you make a conscious effort to “close” from work mode.

Summer Speciality

Now the summer speciality comes into play. This is because when the children are home on the summer holiday they need to be kept busy. Unless they are in a summer camp they are at home with you all day! As many parents can attest to, children on vacation are especially demanding. They want to know where they are going; what they are eating, what you’re doing and just wonder when you will stop working.

Free stock photo of afro, afro hair, animal

Mumprenurs Much Needed Break

So if you are like me after weeks of having the children on summer break, keeping them entertained and also working round the clock you are just tired. If your children are anything like mine all they see is that mum is always working. All they hear is “guys I am working”. Once you are in the house, they think you should be able to hang out with them.

Sometimes we need to remember that we should just take some time off because many of us are guilty of never stopping! So today I decided to do just that and take the day off. Our day off meant that we just hung out together – and I did not work! Let me be honest I did work but at a much slower pace. So we went to the bookstore and bought a few books, we read our new books together, I got my exercise in and we just had fun with each other. It was a nice and relaxing day.

So here I am after tucking them in bed to get a quick blog post in! The life of a mumpreneur is really round the clock and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Originally posted on 21st July 2016

Scroll to Top