Over the last 7 weeks I have had so many people check in on me whether that be professionally or personally and it’s been lovely that so many of you care. The main questions being; How are you? How are you managing to run your business and look after your little boy at the same time? So I thought this blog help answer those questions…
Covid-19 and me!
Having a 3 year old, I do not have the pressure of home schooling as such, however I have the pressure of getting him ready for school as he starts school in September; what should he know? what should he be doing? So I have been doing lots of activities around numbers, letters and shapes, doing lots of puzzles, arts and crafts and lots of baking and trying to get him involved as much as possible. It was all going great for the first couple of weeks, I had a rota, we tried to keep some normality however Archie become really bored, bored of everything and to be honest so did I, I guess there is only so much baking and arts and crafts you can do.
I have also felt a lot of pressure from social media too seeing what everyone was doing, what their child can do and it was getting me down. I have now turned off from social media and I am concentrating on being happy and going with Archie’s flow. If Archie wants a day on the sofa watching Disney films that’s fine, if Archie wants a day on his tablet that is also fine and when he is in the mood for learning and playing and baking we do it then.
Some days have certainly been harder than others and some days we haven’t even got dressed and do you know what, that’s absolutely fine we are never going get this chance again to be at home and be so lazy so we have embraced those days. I’d also be lying if I said there we no tantrums and the naughty step hadn’t been re-introduced haha but overall we have had some amazing days, real quality time and I am super proud of Archie and how he has handled this situation especially not being able to see his family and friends because of the “virus”.
Jamie has been amazing, when he comes in from work he kind of takes over, we all have dinner together and then he does the bath and bed time routine most days and this is when I have “my time”, whether that be a bath, a hot cup of tea, facetime with friends, skincare routine, or just sit still for 10 minutes to do nothing, I’m actually loving my ‘ME’ time, I’m getting a chance to do all the things I used to do before running my own business and having a child. I’ve done things like facemasks, hair masks, planting my own vegetables, baking and exercise and it’s made me realise I do actually have time for these sorts of things, I just used to shrug them off because I didn’t have the time.
With the business I pick my days, on the days Archie wants a Disney day or tablet day, this is when I work on the business and spend real quality time on the business, I have been watching lots of free Lynton Webinars as I can watch, write notes and have Archie in the background. I have been watching all of Zoe Cairns lives on Facebook and taking part in the ZC Social media workshops, Archie has appeared in some of these though haha but the lovely thing is everyone understands. I have been scheduling all of my facebook posts and offering live consultations, I have launched my YouTube channel, I have been reading lots of articles and press releases, I have been collaborating with Nadia at Beaute Elite Permanent makeup and I have been on KMTV and the radio. I have still been doing everything I can to maintain and build on my exposure, increase my brand awareness and be accessible for new enquiries and client questions.
I guess, when you are faced with a real challenge there are only ever three things you can do:
- Do nothing
- Do a bit
- Do a lot
And you need to decide which is right for you. I tend to lean towards option 2 and then 3.
Doing nothing is an option, but the problem is there is no such thing as nothing. You might feel like you are standing still, but the world is still moving, so even under lockdown you can still fall back.
Doing something might be better than nothing; At least you are taking action. However, doing “stuff” posting without a plan and you will only get so far.
So I try to do a lot – when and where I can! I have still continued to plan, I have a strategy that I have followed which I set at the end of March when I knew I was closing the business and I have adapted this each month and I have never stopped working towards my goals. I can’t put the world and my business back together the way it was, but I do have the power to change it and that is what I have been working on ready for when we can reopen.
At the end of each day I also reflect:
Has Archie done or learnt something new today?
Have I done something on my business that is going to help keep it going?
Have I provided a nice home cooked meal for us all?
Have I done anything around the house that’s positive i.e Ironing?
If the answer is yes to all of these, it has been a good day…The ironing however is still very much a huge pile, but that can wait!
Being a full time mum, a house wife and a business owner is hard and it’s exhausting, and with the pressure of everything that’s’ going on outside it’s a real worry, so please be kind to yourself, enjoy the good days and embrace the bad.
Thank you to those that have checked in on me, friends, family and business associates, it hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Stay safe everyone and I will see you all on the other side.
Lots of love
Amy Xx