In April 2020, 2 weeks after the first lockdown in the UK, I gave birth to my son Oliver. It was a scary time and a strange time to become a mum for the first time. The streets were empty and daily briefings were the norm.
Everyone told me ‘It takes a village to raise a baby’. But I didn’t have a village around me. In fact, it was just me, my husband and Oliver for months on end in a tiny house in East Yorkshire.
I searched and found my village online. Without any human interaction, no baby groups, no midwife clinics, I learned from online communities and used apps and tech to navigate this new world I found myself in.
5 months later, I started to think about returning to work. Having quit a toxic workplace at 3 months pregnant, I didn’t have my role as Practice Manager in Wealth Management to return to, so wearing baby Oliver in a sling, I set up my own business from my kitchen table.
It wasn’t easy at all. It tested me and I was constantly faced with the ups and downs of motherhood at the same time as getting my consultancy business off of the ground. Every time Oliver was put down for a nap, I opened up my laptop and worked. I had precious few hours to dedicate in the early days that I had to be super-efficient, structured and productive.
In 2021, off the back of the success of my growing business, we moved to France to fulfil mine and my husband’s long-held dream of bringing up a family in the French countryside.
It’s been a challenging and busy 2 years, however there are apps and platforms that can help you make the most of your time. The baby/business juggle is REAL, but here’s how I did it:
Huckleberry Sleep App
This app combines paediatric sleep advice with AI to perfectly plan your baby’s nap times according to their age and sleep patterns. Getting your baby to nap at regular times of the day is key to smoother scheduling for the whole family. You can plan your work and your own rest if you know when your baby will be asleep. Spoiler alert: some days your baby will forget about the schedule and not play ball, remember not to pack your diary too full of work- you’ll need plenty of white space to be able to shuffle plans around without causing stress and be able to prioritise your little one.
ClickUp
When you’re juggling a business and a baby, you have to hold a lot of information to remember, so free up some headspace and add tasks and deadlines to ClickUp. This platform is a lifesaver and has a phone app for on-the-go notes and to-do lists. You can view upcoming tasks as a calendar view, in a list or task cards on a board- whatever you prefer. I took it one step further and added my husband to ClickUp so we could manage family tasks such as Oliver’s vaccinations and remembering to order the supermarket delivery each week- all things easily forgotten when you’re both busy. Each task has an assignee and date so no business or personal task can slip through the net and no one can say ‘I thought you were doing that!’
Voxer
With a new baby on your hip you’ll rarely have both hands free to write long messages to clients or your team. Voxer is the walkie-talkie app for voice notes, photos and file sharing as well as normal text messages. A great way to keep your private and business lives separate but stay connected and productive whilst you’re pushing the pram around the park. Top tip: Keep Whatsapp for your friends and family- Voxer is for work only then turn off your notifications in the evening.
Zapier
The saviour of the online world- Zapier connects up and automates all of your apps and platforms to save you a tonne of time. For example, you receive a new lead via a contact form and Zapier adds the details to your ClickUp task board to review the next day. A client books a call with you and Zapier sends them your client welcome pack by email. A client signs a contract and Zapier sets up a new folder in your Google Drive with their name on it ready for you to get started. As a new mum growing a business, you need to remove any manual task which could be automated to free up your time- you’ll need every minute!
About the author
Kate Kurdziej (34) is on a mission to empower female start-ups and entrepreneurs to strike a better work/life balance by running their online businesses more efficiently. By advising on and building bespoke online systems, transforming processes and freeing up time, Kate hopes to eradicate the burnout and stress that can hold so many people back.
Via her own consultancy and as a working mother, Kate knows all too well how it feels to be battling against the clock to get work done, be productive and to juggle parenting alongside a career.
