The single most challenging thing for mom-preneurs is the fact that there really are only 24 hours in a day. If we didn’t have to sleep we would all get so much more accomplished, wouldn’t we? But the fact is we do need sleep. I know I need MY sleep. How do mothers “do it all”? I have learned over the years, that there is no way to do it all, but there are ways to fit in the things that are more important for you by revising how you approach each day.

There are many things I do on a daily basis that help me to find time for my business, but here are three that I think are very important:

1. Get organized

How often do you spend a good hour looking for something that you know is somewhere, but you have no clue where it got put? Didn’t you just see it right next to the phone yesterday!

Every week I spend about 15-30 minutes organizing something in my house. I may just put everything back where it belongs, or I might clear out a closet, straighten a drawer in a desk, or clear out clutter from under my child’s bed.

The short time that I spend organizing saves me so much time later looking for something that isn’t in the right place. For example, when I need to find a transaction statement for a certain bank account from 2005, it would literally take me a matter of minutes. Or if the kids can’t find the glue sticks, I just pull one out from my private stash.

2. Work efficiently

Learning to work efficiently can be the most important time-saver out there. Someone working on a project while being distracted, unorganized and unfocused could spend 6 hours on the project while that same person working on the same project with zero interruptions, a clear outline of what is to be accomplished and streamlined focus on each task at hand could take 2 hours.

I find I am much more productive if I write down my goals for the day and for the moment that I just sit down to work. I write down what I expect to work on, in what order I am going to work on the tasks and how long I expect each task to take.

It’s best to turn off all distractions. Let the machine answer the phone, make sure the kids are busy (or as busy as they can be for their age), turn your ear away from any other distractions besides the kids and your work, and skip the snacks. (Snacking while working can be a huge distraction, believe it or not).

3. Realize that your house doesn’t need to be spotless

I used to think that my house had to be spotless and picked up all the time. I spent WAY too much time cleaning everything.

After I had a couple children, I realized that I had even less time to get everything done. There was so much more to do. I had to let something go. My business was too important to me, so I had to find other things that were not going to get done. With 2 young children, I was spending a lot of time cleaning up. I didn’t want to hire a maid, so the alternative was to decide that certain things could be cleaned a little less often.

After each child (I now have 3), I found more and more things in the house that didn’t need to be cleaned as often as they did before. I have learned that there are many more important things than a clean house and they always come first. And just think I STILL have people who come and visit and mention that my house looks great! How clean is your house? Clean enough?

It ultimately comes down to the fact that people make time for what they feel is important to them. If your business is important, then you make the time for it. You give other tasks, projects and distractions a lower priority.

Of course, you don’t have to make fresh, organic, and local underlining values of your baby food business. Perhaps these attributes are not as important to parents in your area. However, as I have already shown you, the market for products that have these qualities is growing rapidly. And the fact that your baby food is fresh, organic, and local is unlikely to turn people off. But you may loose potential customers if your food doesn’t have at least one of these attributes.

Why Organic Foods For Babies?

-Existing regulations on the amount of pesticide residues that non-organic foods may contain are based on ‘acceptable’ levels for adult consumption. Babies and young children are at greater risk because the immaturity of their body systems makes them more vulnerable to toxins.

-Because children’s diet is often restricted to just a few types of less processed food- like apples, potatoes, carrots ‘ they may receive higher exposure to toxins.

-From conception until one year of age, children are at their most vulnerable. During this critical stage of development cells are multiplying at their peak, yet the body has limited diet to draw upon.

-A baby’s digestive system is also more efficient that that of an adult at absorbing foods, enabling nutrients to be used more quickly, but also making the body more vulnerable to toxins. Immature kidneys are not as proficient at excreting harmful substances, so they may circulate in the body for a longer period of time.

-No one knows what effect genetic engineering may have on food products and the health of those who consume them. So the best way to protect yourself and your baby from possible problems is to choose organic. Organic baby foods are produced without genetically modified ingredients.

Why Local Foods For Babies?

-Eating local means more for the local economy. According to a study by the New Economics Foundation in London, a dollar spent locally generates twice as much income for the local economy. When businesses are not owned locally, money leaves the community at every transaction.

-Locally grown produce is fresher. While produce that is purchased in the supermarket or a big-box store has been in transit or cold-stored for days or weeks, produce that you purchase at your local farmer’s market has often been picked within 24 hours of your purchase. This freshness not only affects the taste of your food, but the nutritional value which declines with time.

-Locally grown fruits and vegetables have longer to ripen. Because the produce will be handled less, locally grown fruit does not have to be “rugged” or to stand up to the rigors of shipping. This means that you are going to be getting peaches so ripe that they fall apart as you eat them, figs that would have been smashed to bits if they were sold using traditional methods and melons that were allowed to ripen until the last possible minute on the vine.

-Eating local is better for air quality and pollution than eating organic. In a March 2005 study by the journal Food Policy, it was found that the miles that organic food often travels to our plate creates environmental damage that outweighs the benefit of buying organic.

-Eating local protects us from bio-terrorism. Food with less distance to travel from farm to plate has less susceptibility to harmful contamination.

-Supporting local providers supports responsible land development. When you buy local, you give those with local open space – farms and pastures – an economic reason to stay open and undeveloped.

Sources:

-Trading places: the local economic impact of street produce and farmer’s markets, New Economics Foundation, November 2005.

-Farm costs and food miles: An assessment of the full cost of the weekly fruit basket, Food Policy, Volume 30, Issue 1, February 2005, Pages 1-19.

-”New Rules to Beat Food Terrorism”, Associated Press, Dec 6, 2004.

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